Vandread Raven: The Second Stage
by Vader23A
Summary: Keith and the Nirvana crew continue to fight against the Harvest while heading back to Tarak and Mejale but new dangers lurk around every corner. Lemons later on in the story. OCxMeia. CanisxBarnette. DitaxHibiki.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dreams and Reality

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage.

Hibiki, Dita, Meia, Keith, and Jura are engaged with the Harvest fleet; Red Angel flew alongside Vandread Dita. Keith said, "Target locked on."

Hibiki cried, "No way these fools are going to get us. They got another thing coming!" A series of flashes can be seen from the distance.

Jura asked, "What's that?" All of a sudden a beam comes out of nowhere and blows off Vandread Dita's left arm, its pilots scream in pain. Inside the Vandread's cockpit Hibiki looks out the window to see Red Angel and Jura's Dread get badly damaged. Hibiki attempts to fire the working shoulder cannon but it fails. The blue machine gets hit again and the Nirvana is hit as well. One final hit annihilates the Vandread.

Keith screams as he woke from the nightmare, he hears a moan next to him. Meia wakes up as well, she sits up and the bed cover slides from her shoulders revealing her beautiful breasts to him but he didn't pay much attention to them and focused more on her face.

Meia asked, "I suppose it's not the right time to say good morning isn't it?"

Keith said, "No, it isn't." He still remembers what they did last night. The sexual pleasure they felt was beyond words, they get out of bed and took turns taking a shower before putting their clothes on. They walk out of Keith's room and head towards the hanger they meet up with Canis along the way.

Hibiki said to himself, "That light? What the heck was it?"

"Mr. Alien?" Dita asked to make him snap out of his trance and he turns around to see the others, something was clearly troubling them.

Hibiki asked, "What is it? What are you doing up so early in the morning?"

'He seriously needs to change that attitude of his or I'm going to change it for him.' Keith thought.

Meia said, "It was trying to communicate with us. Sending us a message, at least that's what it felt to me."

The young Tarak gasped, "Are you saying that you saw the same thing that I did?"

Dita replied, "Mr. Alien, you saw it as well?" Keith and Meia don't say anything but the seriousness in their eyes explained it.

Jura cried, "That's bone-chilling. I mean having the same dream all at once, that's weird!" She places a hand on her forehead.

Meia explained, "All of us here share something in common." She recalls the moment they fell into the light of the Pexis and other events leading up to now, "The modifications to the Dreads, Vanguard, and the two NEXTs that Keith and Canis pilot are the proof."

The blonde Dread pilot added, "But it's still weird. Having a dream like that…oh!" She is stopped when she felt a little woozy from the headache hitting her.

Dita asked in concern, "Jura are you okay?"

Jura waved it off, "It's nothing I am going back to bed." The others watch her leave.

Canis spots Barnette shaking, being the kind person that he is, he approaches the dark green-haired woman.

He said, "Are you okay, Barnette?"

She nodded, "Yeah, just a little shaken up."

The brunette begins to leave but then she felt Canis grab her wrist, "Listen, if you feel depressed or anything you can tell me. I'll try my best to help you."

Barnette smiled, "Thank you, Canis." He lets go of her wrist to let Barnette finish her sleep. The others couldn't so they did what they can to keep their minds off of the dream for now.

Hibiki walks through the hallways his mind still occupied about the dream.

'I know it was a dream but it felt so real. Was it a dream or some kind of premonition?' He thought.

Dita said, "Mr. Alien!" Hibiki sees her running to him.

He cried, "What do you want now? Why do you keep following me?"

The redhead fiddled with her fingers in the long sleeves of the pajamas she was wearing while blushing with a smile, "Well…I was just wondering when you have time to come to my room for a visit. You promised, remember?"

Hibiki blushed, "Dita! Just take a look at what's happening around you. A war is going on. You think I would want to come visit your room right now?"

Dita slowly walks closer, "But when then? Tomorrow? The day after?"

The young Tarak started to get nervous with her getting closer, "Sometime real soon, okay?"

The Dread pilot suggested, "Hold up, Mr. Alien. Let's eat breakfast together."

Hibiki thought otherwise, "I'll eat by myself, thank you!" Keith and Meia look on at the bubbly redhead with a small smile.

Then they heard Paiway saying, "And so another day begins. Dita chasing Hibiki." She pulled out her frog hand puppet, "I can't believe Dita would chase a guy. It's really strange, ribbit."

Pyoro said, "Actually it is quite normal." He hiccups after saying that.

Paiway pushed him downward with a tick mark, "What do you think you're doing interrupting a lady like that? How rude! Hold on, I just heard you hiccup but you're a machine you can't hiccup." The white robot proves her wrong as he hiccuped again, sending her to the floor. Meia stares at it in bewilderment. Inside the conference room Magno, BC and Gascogne are having a meeting.

BC cried, "We are approximately 90 days from Mejale, in regards to Operation Harvest where Earth plans to harness body parts as a source for new organs, our home world and Tarak should realize the threat we're facing."

Magno asked sternly, "Understood but what happened to the message pods we sent out earlier?"

BC answered, "They should've arrived at the two planets by now."

Gascogne added, "It looks like they're ignoring us."

The pirate leader assured, "I'm sure Tarak and Mejale will not ignore the message pods we sent them this time, not after they discover that Earth plans to take our reproductive organs." That's when Parfet appears on the monitor.

She said, "Parfet reporting."

Magno wondered, "Anything wrong?"

The engineer nodded her head, "I'm afraid so. The Pexis has started acting up again, we don't know the cause of it though."

The captain sighed, "Not this again."

BC speculated, "It must be reacting the same way it did when the male and female ship fused together."

The Reg leader added, "It feels the same way we do. Men and women are so different, we may not be able to understand one another." At the men's quarters, Bart is eating some pills that Tarak makes to ensure that the inhabitants eat enough to get them through hard labor work.

Bart said, "Women are weird. At first I believed that they eat a man's internal organs but ever since Keith revealed that he came from a universe where men and women live under the same roof peacefully, I am beginning to see females in a more positive light." Then he sees Duero reading a book, "What's that you are reading, doc?"

The doctor holds it up, "I found it in the storage room of the pioneer ship." He begins to read the book that was titled 'Hello Baby,' "The baby's life starts when the seed, which is the father's sperm, is accepted by the female egg called an ovum. The two of them join together to form a zygote which in turn develops into a fetus."

Bart looked at him strange founded, "You're really into that stuff?"

Duero smirked, "I find it fascinating." Hibiki comes in and tiredly collapses onto his bed the two wonder what made him so exhausted at the women's bathroom two crewmembers are busy powdering themselves.

The first one said, "It's amazing how things have changed over our journey. I mean eating with the men doesn't bother us anymore."

The other replied, "We thought they were barely human but then we found out that men and women came from Earth and use to live under the same roof. What's more is that Meia slept with Keith in his room last night what do you think of it? Why did Meia do that?"

Her companion answered, "I think she did it to comfort Keith after all, he did kill the man who took his parents away from him. I have to admit that Keith is really cute and what's his friend's name? Canis? He's cute as well! I even heard that him and Barnette are friends now. I wonder what the future holds in store for them." Barnette just entered the restroom about to take care of lady's business when she overheard the conversation about her and Canis. For some unknown reason it made her blush but she hides it as she walks past them.

She corrected, "A prisoner is a prisoner. Even though Keith is our sub-leader, he is still a man we can't go easy on them. We need to show that _we_ are the ones in charge!"

The crew member panicked, "Do you think she'll start a riot or something? Do you think we should inform the Captain?"

Barnette snapped, "Oh, shut up you two! I'm not going to do anything!"

In the hanger Keith goes over the battle with Adam Archer and wonders what caused those dragon wings to appear. Suddenly Black Dragon's red eyes flash as if it was talking to its pilot. Strangely enough Keith understands it.

He said, "Yes I'm aware of that, Black Dragon. As it stands, I do not know what Earth will throw at us next." He begins to theorize that when the Pexis transformed his NEXT, it seemed that Black Dragon kind of became like a living thing. He believes that the tougher each battle becomes, the stronger Black Dragon grows. Canis hangs out with Duero and the other guys.

Duero said, "You promised? You promised that you would go to Dita's room?"

Hibiki nodded, "Yeah, it just came up at the heat of the moment you know?"

Bart suggested, "So what's the big deal? Just go ahead and see her."

The young Tarak cried, "You go and see her!"

The helmsman shook his head, "Uh-ah, you were the one who made the promise, pal!"

Hibiki grunted, "You got to be kidding! Going to a woman's room? A real man would never do that!"

Duero corrected, "What real men do is keep their promises, your other self should've realized that."

The young pilot struggled to find his words, "It's not that I want to break the promise but…"

Duero asked, "But what?"

Bart urged, "Spit it out!"

Hibiki snapped while keeping a blush on his face, "Look! If I go in there, what are we going to do when I'm in there? I mean what are we going to talk about?"

Bart and Duero said in unison, "Good point." Canis watched the scene with amusement.

He smirked, "I think all she wants to do is to get to know you better through conversation. What's the big deal of talking to a girl? It's not like she is going to eat you or anything that is not part of her personality. Take Keith and Meia for example. They talk to one another with no trouble at all. They're not shy to admit that they like each other. I think it's better just to get it over with instead of letting it hang above you." Hibiki leaves the place in frustration.

Duero said, "Well, I'm off to check on my patient. Later guys." Canis joins him but then spots Jura heading to the infirmary. He helps her to the room. Canis looks at the ultrasound to see Ezra's baby, if his memory is correct this means that Ezra is ready to give birth soon. Keith told him that Ezra was pregnant and explained how babies were born in this universe. Unfortunately, the Nirvana doesn't have the medical equipment needed for this task.

Jura asked, "Doctor, can I have something for my headache?" Her cheeks are flushed and she had beads of sweat running down her face. She could literally feel her head pounding.

The male said in a cool tone, "What's wrong?"

She started, "It all started with that dream."

Duero wondered, "A dream? Come to think of it, Hibiki did mention the same thing the Pexis also seems to acting strange too."

Jura then felt another throbbing pain, "My head's killing me! Can I please have some medicine?" Then she spots Ezra and apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

Canis helps her sit down and takes another look at the monitor while Duero said he was getting the proper medicine for Jura's killer headache.

She commented, "Your baby has grown." She smiled at the ultrasound.

Canis said, "Good luck on a safe delivery, Ezra. Well, I am leaving now. Good-bye Ezra, Jura."

Ezra smiled, "Good-bye and thank you, Canis." She waves at him and so did Jura then the blonde spots the book that Duero was reading earlier.

In the ship's garden Keith stares at the endless sea of stars. He contemplates over the things that have happened to him over the course of this journey. How he started off as a stranger then eventually became second in command of the Dreads. He also wonders if he will ever get back to his own universe along with his friend Canis. They believe that this era doesn't need to experience the dark, mysterious and bloody story of the Ravens, mercenaries that live off the battlefield to prove their existence, never able to live a normal life unless they are unable to pilot a NEXT anymore or retire. He next thought of Meia. Will he be able to bring her with him? If he can then where would they live? What would they do? He is so focused on this that he failed to hear footsteps approaching his location until he felt Meia placing a hand on his shoulder to make him snap of out his train of thought. He touches hers with his right hand.

She asked in concern, "Keith, what's wrong?"

Keith answered, "Nothing, Meia. Just thinking about how all of this happened. You know from the Ikazuchi raid to our current war with my home world while returning to Mejale/Tarak territory." They both sit down as Keith continued, "I remember that after our previous battle Barnette said that I could think of you and this crew as my new family."

Meia nodded, "Yes, I do recall that as well."

The Lynx furthered, "That was something I always yearned for, to be accepted it brought tears to my eyes. I never cried like that since visiting my parents' grave site. I also remember when we had sex last night, I have told you about how it felt and I never dreamed that you'd be my first. Heh, and while I was hovering above Tarak I heard the Prime Minister saying that women were a scourge to the universe and needed to be eradicated I never believed that. You and every other woman on the Nirvana are nothing like the monsters you were portrayed as in those Tarak propaganda films, though I know Magno is very old and that her time will come eventually where she'll pass on to the afterlife but I will say that I was proud to serve under her command, she reminds me of my mother Serena Oswell. The leaders of Tarak and Mejale think that men and women can't live together anymore; ha I beg to differ. They have let this gender war get to their heads their ancestors would be very disappointed that their descendants are fighting one another. It doesn't matter what your planet's people will say, I will always be with you, Meia."

The Dread leader smiled, "Keith." This touched her heart. Keith has shown Meia what it's like to have a heart. What it's like to be a human being.

He cried, "I care about you, Meia. Really I do with all of my heart." He feels Meia placing her hand on top of his then rested her head on his shoulder as they look at the stars. The relationship between them continues to grow each day.

In the shooting room, Barnette shoots a group of targets with a pistol, Canis watches her. He didn't need target practice because he was born with a natural talent for guns. He inherited that trait from his father who was an excellent marksman but once in a while Canis will do target practice for fun.

Jura stares off into space then said out of the blue, "You know, Barnette I want to have a baby." That announcement made Barnette miss her final target.

She shuddered, "What? A baby?"

Jura smiled, "That's right."

Barnette asked, "And who do you want to have it with?"

Her best friend replied, "With one of the men, of course." Canis and Barnette blush from that. Canis immediately became uncomfortable.

She stood and continued, "That's what I want. Making a baby with a man's seed. Think about going back to Mejale with that news, Barnette. No Mejalian has ever done it before! I'd be the first one! I would be Mejale's greatest heroin!" She looks at Barnette with a sparkling happy face and floating hearts.

Barnette cried, "That sounds like you. So this seed where would you get it?" She is embarrassed by where this conversation is going.

The blonde Dread pilot asked, "Why don't you ask Canis? You two seem to be getting close to each other." Barnette's face grows beet red.

Canis said, "Uh, well we haven't taken that next step yet. I think that is more of a decision for Barnette than it is to me. We are still working on our relationship we are still friends. I don't think she is ready to have sex with me. Right, Barnette?" He gives her a nervous smile while a bead of sweat began to form on his face. Barnette looks at him and sees that he is embarrassed by this conversation as well.

Barnette nodded, "Yeah, that's right." Before the conversation could continue the alarm goes off. On the bridge the Nirvana's radar picks up a signal.

Ezra said, "I have a confirmed life form signal, commander."

BC asked, "Do you think that pod could've escaped from the Harvest? Keith, Meia, don't fight unless you have to!"

Both pilots replied in unison, "Roger!" The fighter pilots take off to retrieve the object. They wonder what could be inside it. Gascogne secures the pod with her delivery ship's grappling arms under its belly by the time Hibiki approaches it.

Then the Reg leader looked at the radar and said, "Perfect timing." A swarm of cube-types attack the craft and Gascogne growled, "How did they get under us so easily?" These models are different from the previous ones.

Barnette exclaimed, "They're a lot faster than the other cube-types!" The machines take the pod, completely surprising the crew.

Belvedere said, "The enemy is retreating with the pod!"

BC cried, "What? You mean they are not after us?"

Magno smirked, "This is an unexpected turn of events. If that pod is so important to Earth, that they are willing to ignore us then by all means we have to get it back!"

Hibiki races toward the pair shouting that they saw the pod first and therefore belongs to the crew. Two cube-types break off from the group carrying the pod and attack the young Tarak.

Meia destroys them and said, "Hibiki, I think we should combine now! We'll get them that way!" As the two craft near a beam comes out of nowhere and hits between them, preventing any combination.

Hibiki gasped, "What's that red light?"

"The pod! You have to retrieve the pod and return to the Nirvana!" Meia ordered as her Dread's systems seem to have frozen up. She attempts to reboot them.

Black Dragon combines with Barnette's Dread to create Avenger. They are currently battling it out against Stasis, Otsdarva's NEXT. The blue machine had undergone some modifications it now had a beam saber for close-range combat, upgraded assault rifles and missile launchers. Avenger uses its double-edged glaive to deflect incoming shots from Stasis' assault rifles. Sensing that they can't gain a lock for Avenger's destructive missiles, Keith and Barnette execute a vector roll. They got straight up and hung on their back for a second then when the time was right, they came down in a swoop in downward curve and ended up right behind him. They gain a lock and fire one of Avenger's large destructive missiles. The projectile hits home and destroys Stasis in a massive fireball. They turn around to see Jura finish combining with Hibiki's Vanguard and secure the pod within Vandread Jura's shield.

Jura said, "Ta-da! Am I good or what?"

Hibiki looked at her deadpanned, "Well, better late than never I guess." Jura then scoots her seat over to Hibiki's, a little too close which made him uneasy.

Jura cried, "Listen, Hibiki." She tried to make her voice seductive.

Hibiki replied nervously, "Yeah? What do you want, Jura?"

The blonde spoke in an even more seductive tone, "I want to have a baby. Will give me what I need?"

"Look! We're in a battle surrounded by the enemy! We don't have time to discuss things like that right now!" Hibiki yelled as his face turned beet red and sweat started to pour down. Jura laughed at his anger outburst.

Meia ordered, "Hibiki, Jura, get back to the Nirvana now! The enemy appears to be in observation mode, meanwhile we'll…" She spots a new Harvest unit coming out of the darkness of space.

It resembles a sting ray it fired a beam of red energy and it hits Vandread Jura with so much force that it causes the crab-shaped machine to defuse. The Nirvana crew is surprised by this, looks like planet Earth has a new toy. The cube-types regain the pod and begin to retreat with the Vanguard hot on their tail. Two more disengage from the pair and attack Hibiki this time around Dita comes to his rescue. The two combine to form Vandread Dita, the cube-types get destroyed and the pod is in the firm grasp of the Vandread. The crew didn't want to crush the pod because it could contain valuable information about the Earth fleet's movements.

Inside the Vandread's cockpit Dita smirked triumphantly, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Keith came up on their monitor, "Save the celebration for later, you two. Get back to the ship if you don't want to be harvested!"

Dita saluted him, "You got it!"

Avenger defuses and Black Dragon combines with Meia's fighter to form Red Angel. He smiles but it quickly faded away as he saw the sting ray-like Harvest unit fire another beam attack at Vandread Dita and scores a hit on its right arm.

Meia asked, "Hibiki! Dita! Are you alright?"

Hibiki grunted, "What was that?"

Dita and Hibiki looked at the control sphere for the hit arm and noticed that it was flashing. The right arm started to deteriorate, turning from its normal shiny blue to a rusty red color. Hibiki wonders if that dream they had was going to come true. The Nirvana gets pummeled as well.

Bart screamed, "It never hurt like this before! I don't know how much more I can withstand! Hey, engineering what the hell is going on down there?"

Parfet answered, "That's what I'd like to know!" Vandread Dita attempts to fire one of the shoulder cannons it powers up but then swiftly goes dead.

Hibiki growled, "What's going on here? Damn it!"

Dita added, "It's just like before!"

Keith and Meia are so concerned about their two fellow pilots that they didn't hear Red Angel's missile warning system telling them that a Kojima missile is rapidly approaching. The projectile closes in and hits Red Angel in the back, its pilots feel the pain. The machine turns around to see a modified Eclipse Arms Fort. It now had Kojima missile launchers in addition to its single destructive Kojima cannon. Meia curses under her breath for not paying attention to the missile warning.

The sting ray-like Harvest vessel wraps a pair of tentacles around Vandread Dita and pulls it toward its mouth in preparation to harvest its pilots. Red Angel destroys the Eclipse and attempts to help Vandread Dita but it too get ensnared by the enemy.

Jura said, "We're done for!"

As the two machines are drawn closer Hibiki said, "Dreams may be real when you're asleep but I'm not sleeping and the thing is that I'll never let you tin cans win! Never!" Vandread Dita and Red Angel break free from their restraints.

Canis comes to his friends' aid and the three machines cock all of their ranged weapons.

After gaining a lock, all five pilots said simultaneously, "Die!" They fire their beam weaponry and the Harvest unit blew up. Once again they thwart Earth's plan to have them harvested. The three craft return to the Nirvana with Vandread Dita holding the pod.

Meia exhaled, "We may have gotten reckless but we got the job done."

Canis added, "It's better than getting harvested by Earth. That is the last thing I would want."

Keith laughed, "Ha ha, I agree with you, Canis."

Later that day Parfet struggles to open the pod, after 3 frustrating hours she manages to open it. A cold mist comes out as the pod opens, when the mist cleared the crew see its inhabitant.

It was a girl most likely in her early teens with deep blue hair tied into a ponytail, wore a yellow outfit and had earrings.

Hibiki hops up and down to try and get a look due to his short height, with no alternative he shoves the rest of crew out of his way eventually he lost his footing and his face landed in the pod. He immediately pulls his face out of it before the girl opens her eyes. They were crimson red and then all of a sudden one of her earrings glows and out comes a yellow hologram of a shapeless creature.

Pyoro said, "Did you see that?"

Hibiki wondered, "What is that?"

The girl stares and said, "It's you. You saved me. Thank you, my lord prince!" She starts hugging him.

Barnette started, "Lord…" She growled in slight annoyance.

Jura finished, "Prince?" This hugging sparked jealously in Dita and Jura.

Keith and Canis, along with their respectable girlfriends look on with confusion.

Paiway giggled, "This is definitely getting interesting. A red circle check!"

'This family continues to grow. I think we are going to see a rivalry over who claims Hibiki.' Canis thought.

A/N: Okay, that's chapter 1 of Vandread Raven: The Second Stage complete.

Man, what a wild summer this has been so far. This is probably the wettest summer I've ever seen because I don't remember the last time I have seen this kind of unexpected weather. There's been some thunderstorms with intense lightning, brief heavy rainfall and occasionally hail moving over my neighborhood. Other than being under a Tornado Warning twice, my house has seen some bad thunderstorms one night after another. The intense lightning it brought was awesome yet scary at the same time. The hail stones that my house got was about pea-sized. My neighborhood even experienced fall like temperatures for 3 days! But now it's been pretty hot and dry now. Definitely a wacky summer if you ask me!

Anyway read and review, everyone. I'll do lemons later on in the story.

Stick around for chapter 2.

Vader 23A.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Revelation

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Keith is currently throwing punches at a punching bag and Canis is doing bench presses.

The black-haired American wore fingerless boxing gloves that protect the majority of his hands while he was throwing punches. This is the training session that he warned Hibiki about. He can already feel the strain it was putting on his muscles by hitting the bag so hard, Keith decides to take a break so his arm muscles can recover Canis just got done doing his third set of 40 bench presses Canis can right now lift about 180 lbs of weight. Keith then stretches his legs for a bit. He starts to kick the bag then finished with a powerful blow that left a bruise on his shin. He ignores the pain from the injury the bruise will disappear in a few days. The 16-year old walks up to a wall mirror and flexed his muscles the reflection displays his sculpted upper body.

Canis briefly looks at his friend and said, "Keith, you're such a showoff sometimes!" He then proceeds to do some leg presses.

Keith replied, "Look who's talking. You're more of a showoff than me, Canis."

The pilot of Savage Beast laughed, "Ha! Touche." Deciding that they've worked out enough Keith and Canis take a shower in their separate rooms and put on some fresh clothes.

Keith now wore dark blue pants and a black T-shirt. After putting his shoes on, he grabs his circlet and puts it on before exiting his room.

Canis comes out of his wearing black pants, a shirt with a Great White shark on the back, white socks and blue striped shoes. The two arrive at the infirmary just in time to hear Duero reading the pod's data log. The stranger's name is Misty Cornwell and is physically 14 years old though technically she's 77, due to the fact that she spent 63 years in cold sleep inside that pod. They hear her let out a small moan. She opens her crimson eyes and sees virtually the entire crew staring at her. The left earring glows and a holographic glob appeared.

Pyoro shrieked, "Did you see that?"

Misty said, "Don't worry Q-Chan, I'll be fine." She shivered at the moment she moved.

"It's a side effect of the cyrogenic stasis field. You should get some rest now." Duero explained as he attempted to cover her with a blanket.

Misty stared at him and said, "Wow, you're a really handsome guy!" Duero blinked in surprise.

Bart cried, "Hey, I heard you come from a place where men and women live together. Is that true?"

Misty replied, "That's the dumbest question anyone has asked me. Are you a moron?" The helmsman looked away in shame.

Keith chuckled, "Cheer up, Bart."

The aqua marine-haired girl asked, "Who's he?"

Duero wondered, "Which one? You mean one of..."

Misty pointed out, "The one with the red circlet over his right eye!"

The doctor answered, "You mean Keith Oswell."

Misty cried, "Keith Oswell! I've heard that name before!" Keith looks at her confused as she continued, "I've always wanted to meet Katrina's pupil and now here I am staring at him in the flesh. The red string of fate."

Keith apologized, "Sorry to upset you, Misty but I'm already taken." Though she was disappointed after hearing that, she at least finally got to meet him in person. She then looked at Hibiki who caught her eye. She found him cute as well.

She said playfully, "Well don't just stand there, Hibiki come sit next to me." Dita immediately jumped in front of him and told Misty that red is the color of bad aliens, referring to the Harvesters.

Out of the corner of Keith's eye he sees Paiway doing another entry, fed up with this Keith swiftly turned his head at her and narrowed his eyes then the little journal bursts into flames. Within seconds the whole thing burned into ashes. The NEXT pilot then looked back at the feuding Dita and Misty, who is glaring at the redhead with a tick mark.

Misty asked, "Hey, is that girl his girlfriend?"

Duero wondered, "Girlfriend? I'm not familiar with that term. What does that mean?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? You don't know? Q-Chan, these people are weird!"

Jura stepped forward, "Well, it works both ways and from our perspective you're very strange yourself."

Misty asked, "What place have I ended up in?"

Keith answered her question, "Except for Canis and I, the others on board this ship come from a solar system where men and women live apart from one another. We're not accusing you of anything, you just need to understand that the two genders haven't spoken to each other and both have been at war with one another for centuries."

The newcomer mumbled, "Oh, great." Dita sits in the dark cafeteria with Ezra as the pregnant bridge bunny gave her a cup of tea.

Dita said, "Who does she think she is? She comes barging in and hugs Mr. Alien!"

Ezra asked, "If you suddenly woke up in an unfamiliar place, wouldn't you react the same way?"

Dita answered, "Then how come the first thing she does is hug Mr. Alien? And what's more is that he didn't react the same way as he does with me."

The gentle bridge bunny nodded, "How awkward. I guess that is pretty shocking." Keith stares at the sleeping Misty Cornwell. She said that she has heard of his name before though he wondered why. Then Magno and BC come in.

Magno asked, "How's the newcomer, doctor?"

Duero replied, "Resting at the moment. She hasn't completely stabilized so for now, rest is the best medicine."

BC said, "I guess we'll have to decode this ourselves." She holds up a capsule containing a green sphere.

Back in the cafeteria Dita pouted, "I never should've made that promise, Ezra. It's boring just waiting for Mr. Alien to come visit my room. I was a lot better off chasing him." Ezra was about to say when an agonizing pain hits her stomach.

Dita asked in concern, "Ezra, what's wrong?"

The brunette groaned, "The baby!"

The redhead replied, "You mean it's time?" After seeing Ezra nod, Dita began to panic.

Keith walks through the hallway, is it possible that Misty's parents told her about him? Then he spots Dita helping Ezra walk.

Keith asked, "Something wrong?"

Dita urged, "Help me get Ezra to the infirmary! She's going to have her baby!" The pilot is shocked.

In the infirmary Duero said in a surprised tone, "What? She's gone into labor?" He grabbed the 'Hello Baby' book, "Keith can you give me an update on Ezra's condition?"

The young Lynx answered straight forward, "She's in a lot of pain. It goes away for a minute then comes back again. We'll be there as soon as possible."

BC places the capsule into a holder and began typing then waited.

She said, "Well, Pyoro?"

The white robot read the message, "Access denied. The message is encrypted. In order to access it, we need to know the password! Sorry, commander."

Paiway appeared on a monitor and said, "Newsflash! Ezra's baby is going to be born." Suddenly Pyoro acts all funny then he goes static along with rest of the Nirvana's power grid.

Belvedere informed, "The infection is spreading throughout the entire system! One minute to full contamination!" It seems that capsule carried some sort of computer virus. The elevator that Keith, Dita and Ezra were in stops moving!

Keith said, "What happened? Why did we stop? Hello!"

Duero replied, "Calm down, Keith. There's been a power failure and the elevator has stopped. What is the condition of the patient?"

The American cried, "She's sweating, in a lot of pain and her breathing is becoming shorter. I believe she's starting to have contractions."

Magno said, "She's definitely gone into labor." Seeing Duero flipping through the pages the pirate leader informed the occupants, "Listen up! If that elevator isn't fixed soon, Ezra will have to give birth right there!"

Dita exclaimed, "What? Here in the elevator?"

Duero objected, "That's crazy!"

Magno told him, "Without power we have no choice. I'm afraid that baby won't wait." Without warning the Harvesters attack the defenseless Nirvana. Sensing this Keith gritted his teeth in disgust of this attack.

The young Lynx activated his communication watch and told his fellow NEXT pilot, "Canis the enemy has launched a surprise attack on us! You and the others get out there and fend them off. Get moving!" Canis saluted him and informs the other pilots of the situation.

Canis hops into Savage Beast and places it onto the catapult. The NEXT's yellow eye glows as it prepares for launch.

After doing a system check Canis called out, "Canis in Savage Beast launching!" The Dreads and Hibiki's Vanguard launch after him.

Meia ordered, "All Dreads, keep them away from the Nirvana. Commence attack!" Then notices something is off, "Where's Keith?"

Canis answered, "He is stuck in an elevator with Dita and Ezra after a virus infected the system." Back in the elevator Keith and Dita do their best to comfort the bridge bunny.

Dita said, "It's going to be okay, Ezra. I'm here for you and so is Keith." The Lynx nods to insure he's in as well.

Ezra smiled, "Thank you, Dita. You too, Keith."

Keith said, "I'll need instructions. I haven't helped delivering a baby before." Of all the training sessions he had, Keith didn't have time to receive medical training from an expert of that field.

Magno cried, "Ezra, don't push yet! Use shallow breaths to lessen the pain." Out in space the fighters do their best to keep the Harvesters away from the Nirvana but then three modified Seed Ships appear and fire chain-like grappling hooks into the Nirvana's wings.

Savage Beast pulls out its beam saber and cuts down 30 cube-types in less than a minute, unfortunately another pair sneak past him and keep pounding their ship until another explosion rocked it. Luckily the pilot manages to destroy the chains, freeing the Nirvana.

Keith, Ezra and Dita are tossed around inside the elevator. Keith hits his head against the wall and ignores the pain.

Dita gasped, "Ezra!"

Keith reassured, "Don't worry, Dita. She's fine." He saw her wince and looked down and practically screamed.

Duero asked, "Keith, what's wrong?"

The 16-year old answered, "She's broken her water!"

Magno said, "That's normal! Which one of you is closer to her legs?"

Keith replied, "I am."

The pirate leader ordered, "Then you're elected. Open her legs and when the baby's head comes out, pull it out gently." Keith followed her instructions and flipped up Ezra's dress to spread her legs. He kept his mind focused on the task at hand and blocked the image of the bridge bunny's reproductive organ in his head. He took off his black T-shirt and used it as a cushion and something to wrap the baby in to keep it warm. Dita blushes when she sees his muscular build but Keith brings her back down to reality when he called her name.

Keith announced, "Okay, I'm in position. What next?" There was a bit of nervousness in his voice then he took a deep breath to calm himself.

Magno instructed, "Ezra, don't shallow breath anymore. On the count of three push with all of your might. Ready? One, two, three push!" Ezra does what the captain says and pushes, doing her best to ignore the waves of agony hitting her nerves. Keith watches in amazement as the infant's head slowly appeared.

Keith said, "The baby's head has appeared. Now what?"

The aged pirate furthered, "This is the point of delivery, reach under the baby's head and support it." The gentle bridge bunny says that she is scared but Dita told her that the entire crew wanted to see this moment of her baby being born. Ezra smiled at that.

During this moment of silence Duero closes the book he's using as an instruction manual.

Seeing this Magno said, "Doctor, don't tell me you had a change of heart."

Duero admitted, "I finally learned that some answers can't be found in a text book." Magno smiled at his admission.

With one final push and cry, Ezra's baby came fully out of her womb. Keith used his shirt to wipe off all the nasty stuff and the baby took its first breath. The cry of the baby's voice restores the ship's power. Keith lets out a sigh of relief that the danger had passed. He gives the infant to Ezra.

She said with a warm smile, "What do you know? She's already asleep." Dita looks on with happiness.

'She's beautiful!' The redhead thought.

Keith cried, "A mother's touch truly has that effect." He's doing his best to make peace with his past but until war was over, he could not make peace with it.

Parfet's voice came over the intercom, "Sorry to keep you waiting. We're starting up the elevator again." All of a sudden the railings snap, sending the elevator into a free fall at high-speed.

Keith screamed, "Parfet! I would prefer to be in one piece!" A second later, the lift stops moving then they hear Pyoro saying that he will protect the baby.

The robot starts lifting the elevator to a floor then stops. Taking this opportunity, the young Lynx presses the button to open the doors, they start to open but then stopped. Growling in annoyance, Keith used his incredible strength to manually open them. Once he got the doors open wide enough, he let Dita, Ezra and her baby leave first before he got out. Meia and the other pilots return to the ship.

Later that day the crew tries to decode the capsule and this time they succeed. The capsule held a message video so they played it. In the video was a male and female scientist. The female scientist bore striking resemblance to Misty.

The man said, "Sorry if we caused you any trouble but we chose the cry of a baby in the voice-input as the password because it would a sign of humanity. To those who are listening to this message I hope you are thriving healthy and with prosperity. Ever since you left your homeland, Earth has suffered cataclysmic changes. As you might know centuries ago a war raged where corporations fought one another for power. This conflict was known as the Economic War. Kojima technology and this war took its toll on the environment so the League built the Cradles to escape the pollution while NEXT pilots were left behind on the surface to fight in the war. But a small group of pilots known as the ORCA Brigade saw through the League's deception and challenged them. With the help of two additional pilots, a female Lynx named Katrina along with her pupil Keith Oswell, ORCA managed to destroy the Cradles System and diverted their energy to the brigade's anti-satellite batteries to rid the Earth's orbit of Assault Cells and clear the path to space, thus began the Colonization Era. After we bid farewell to your frontier ships, mankind began to go insane, as you know human genetic distribution is at the breaking point. In other words for those on Earth, human evolution is now impossible! So some of us left to insure that mankind survived, to escape from the trap of evolutionary stagnation but now..."

The female scientist took over as she showed the crew the present Earth, "Take a look at this. This is what your homeland looks like now. The once blue atmosphere is now hidden away by a monstrous web of hideous machinery, in which the Earth's moon was knocked out of orbit. As a result the planet experienced a catastrophic change in its gravitational field and in the present atmosphere, violent storms rage non-stop! The surface is like a giant acidic washing machine! What Earthlings that are left have created cities within these gears and hold on for dear life."

Keith mumbled, "Jesus Christ. Did you hear that, Canis?" His friend nodded.

The man went on, "When you left, people first believed that you were mankind's greatest hope but this faith faded in time. And so the people left on the stagnant Earth became convinced that they were the last true humans and so gained the justification to self-preservation. Unfortunately the gene pool was so empty that cloning attempts led to disastrous results so with the same justification they claimed the right to harvest the organs of others like yours and use them for their own self-preservation."

Magno said, "So that's what the harvest is about. We've become forced organ donators. How disgusting!"

The man furthered, "This self-preservation eventually consumed the Earthlings so using the last of the original Pexis they created a fleet of unmanned harvesters to hunt you down mercilessly and harvest you completely!" This became a complete surprise to Hibiki and the others.

The female scientists finished, "We don't why this insanity consumed them but we know that the people of Earth have made a terrible mistake. There's nothing more we can do so I'm sending a messenger to give you this message. I don't believe I will ever see you again but please help Keith restore the human race and its respect towards life. Do not let the eternal flame of life be extinguished!" The video goes static after that.

BC mumbled, "To protect the circle of life, huh?"

Magno vowed, "We have accepted this challenge and now we must carry on their wish. For humanity! And for a future where every child can grow up smiling!" At the infirmary Dita looks at the sleeping baby.

Dita said, "She's so cute. Have you decided a name for her?"

Pyoro smiled, "Pyoro 2."

Ezra giggled, "Silly Pyoro, that's not her name."

The robot flared angrily, "This was already decided!" A fist comes crashing into his face, sending Pyoro into a wall.

Keith walked in, "That's the gayest name I've ever heard. How does the name Serena sound, Ezra?" The American now wore a dark gray shirt because his black one was in the washing machine to remove all the nasty stuff.

The bridge bunny agreed, "You want her to be named after you mom? That's great, Keith. My baby's name is Serena." Then Misty comes in and congratulated Ezra on her delivery. Keith was about to ask her about how she knew him but Hibiki came in.

That's when Misty teased the boy before kissing him, shocking Dita. Hibiki faints after being kissed by a girl.

Keith said, "Hey, Misty. Earlier you said that you knew who I was. How do you know? We never met until now."

Misty giggled, "You're more famous than you know, Keith. I've been told numerous stories about you, your parents and even Katrina. Your family is famous for their knowledge on medicine. I was also told about their unfortunate demise I'm sorry that their deaths left you alone until Katrina found you."

Keith put on a cheery smile, "It's okay. At least I managed to get revenge on the man who took them from me. The bitch Adam Archer, he brought this upon himself. He killed my loved ones and I took him out, sending Adam to the fiery depths of hell where he belongs! Are you hungry at all, Misty?"

The girl nodded, "A little." Keith escorts her to the cafeteria and turns on the room's lights. Misty got what meal she wanted and sat down before eating.

Keith and Canis now have a choice whether or not they should stay in this universe and try to reason with Tarak and Mejale on that this gender war is pointless while they should focus on preparing themselves for Earth's harvesting operation. They still have 90 days to make that decision. That is if they survive that long. But planet Earth is not the only there. However, with the Nirvana crew behind them, the two NEXT pilots don't have worry about fighting this war alone.

A/N: That's chapter 2 done. I got a new pair of glasses yesterday.

It looks like Keith is starting to become famous throughout the universe but what will he be thought of when the war against Earth ends? Will he be thought of as a monster or as a hero? Only time will tell as this story progresses.

Read and review, everyone.

Stick around for chapter 3.

Vader 23A.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Tears from the Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

It's been three days since the Nirvana crew had landed on an unnamed planet not only are the inhabitants infected but everything on it is diseased! The crew took precautions and was given a vaccine injection to prevent them from contracting the disease. The people are infected the moment they come into contact with the polluted air, land and groundwater Duero believes that this was an ecological experiment conducted by Earth. The adult patients that Duero sees are nothing but skin and bone, he chose his words carefully but when nobody was looking he stared at the landscape outside the infirmary's window and narrowed his visible eyebrow and you could tell that he was absolutely pissed off at what Earth was doing to the people of this world. Paiway tries to keep the kids' spirits up. The dead are put inside caskets and loaded up onto a dome that takes them to a mountaintop then they're collected by a Harvest cargo ship that comes by, Magno thought the whole thing was barbaric and everyone can agree with her. Since they can't bury their dead the inhabitants spend their entire lives making wooden dolls, proving that they once lived on this planet. The dolls are put inside a large shrine; this is where the soul resides after it leaves the body living a life of nothing but pain and sadness. The fire of those souls are never passed on to future generations.

Barnette looks at the doll filled shrine and clenched her fists as she struggled to hold back the tears forming in her violet eyes. She isn't the only one experiencing this.

Standing on a mountain near the infirmary, Keith and Canis look on.

Canis said, "There ain't no justice in this, man. I can't believe Earth would stoop this low in their organ harvesting operation."

Keith replied, "I know what you mean, Canis. This is absolutely sick, twisted shit here. Not even the lives we took during the Economic War can compare to this."

Canis suggested, "Man, this is fucked up! We should take the fight to the Harvesters' home world and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

Keith assured, "We will, Canis. We will. But first we need to warn Tarak and Mejale of this crisis." The screams of innocent men, women and children dying echoed in Keith's mind.

Seeing his friend like this, Canis shook Keith out of his trance like state. He told him that he should head back to the Nirvana maybe Meia can help him cope with this situation. Keith thanked him and left but pure, undefiled burning rage was building up inside him. The Harvesters have thrown soul-fused NEXTs at him but Keith prevailed every time though a few of those opponents were pilots that he was friends with like Roy Saaland, the pilot of My Bliss. The two never went on a lot of missions side by side but they respected one another.

Parfet sighed, "I guess we'll have to terraform this thing from scratch. How are you guys doing?"

Hibiki replied, "We're inside the planet's atmosphere right now."

The engineer ordered, "Get ready to experiment a little. Hold your positions!"

Hibiki copied, "You got it." Jura finished painting her fingernails purple she wasn't feeling like her usual self. She had mixed emotions raging within her. One was that she is eager to try what it'd be like to have a baby with a guy and the second was the agony of this planet's people as they are eaten alive by the disease.

She said in a depressed voice, "You know what?"

The young Tarak asked, "What is it?"

Jura replied, "I feel sorry for the people of this planet. You know, living a life of pain and sadness. Knowing that you will never get the chance to live happily or give birth to a healthy baby. It's a sad thing."

Hibiki nodded, "I know. It reminds me of Keith. He lives the life of a Raven, a mercenary who lives off the battlefield to show proof of his/her existence." Then Dita and Misty contact them.

Misty asked, "Hibiki, how are you holding up?"

The teen gave a cocky smile, "Doing fine. We can remain like this as long as we have to."

Back on the planet, Bart was busy talking about one of his 'adventure' stories to a young girl named Shirley safe to say the stories put a smile on her face.

Gascogne said, "When someone says something like that, I don't feel like scolding them." Canis stood by Barnette's side trying to be there for her since she was seeing first hand what it felt like to be terminally ill.

Barnette cried, "I feel sorry for her though." Canis nodded while Gascogne gave her a confused look, "That girl I heard she's been in this quarantine ward ever since the moment of birth." She explained with a sad voice.

Gascogne looked at the patient sympathetically, "I guess letting her hear a tall tale or two is the least we can do."

Later that day Duero sent a request to replenish their supplies and Bart came up with the idea of bringing these ill people to Tarak. Duero liked the idea but he told the helmsman that they don't have enough supplies and also a long voyage like that would take every ounce of strength the inhabitants had in their bodies. The helmsman exited the room, his proposal crushed. That night, he sat by a tent reading a book with a flashlight.

In the Nirvana's briefing room Keith looks over possible scenarios of terraforming this planet but they turn up impossible. After two frustrating hours, Keith gives up and slams his fists onto the table before putting his face in his hands. He is so frustrated he felt like he was going to start pulling his hair out then he feels a hand touch his shoulder, Keith looked up and sees Meia with a stern look on her face.

She said sternly, "Calm down, Keith." Though he can tell that there was a hint of worry under her voice. He nodded and took a few breaths, calming himself down.

Keith told her, "It's so frustrating! Why do the Harvesters keep playing with my heart strings?" Meia sits down beside him and places her hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze to make him continue, "Even with all this advanced technology, we can't help the inhabitants of this poisoned world. It just makes me feel powerless, Meia." Meia nodded and got up and embraces him in a hug while sitting on his lap.

She cried, "I know. It's just that there are situations we cannot change. This is one of them." He lets out a small laugh, which confused his girlfriend. Meia looks at him in the eyes.

The NEXT pilot said, "You're a far cry of the person I met when this journey first started. I remember back then you wouldn't let your friends think up a plan without you. Heck, you didn't think of them as your friends at first. But look at you now, Meia you've changed considerably over the course of this journey."

She smiled and kissed him on the lips, "I have you to thank for that." Meia said as she laid her head on his chest, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat. Keith wraps his arms around her as he held her close. Keith can feel Meia's breasts pressing against him despite the fact that Meia wore the same chest and shoulder padding over her flight suit. They go to the bridge afterward while Misty and Dita were in the communications room looking at the monitor displaying Vandread Jura as it covers the planet with its shields.

Misty said, "This is the fifth time now!"

Dita asked in concern, "Mr. Alien, do you feel any pain?"

Hibiki came up on the monitor and replied, "You got to be kidding. This is nothing!" Then Jura falls onto his shoulder.

She mumbled, "I'm tired."

Misty wondered with a tick mark, "What does she think she's doing?"

On the bridge Meia asked, "You think they'll be okay?"

Keith asked as well, "What do you mean?"

The Dread leader said, "The two have been holding up for some time now."

Keith explained, "From what I heard in Parfet's report, it depends on their will power as well as the condition of the Pexis."

Meia blinked, "The Pexis, huh? What I heard is that the Pexis' data was purposely destroyed in order to create the current environment. Recently I have been wondering what this substance really is."

The NEXT pilot smiled, "I understand, Meia. The others first believed it to be the ideal energy system until recently, now I believe it has a life of its own. Also I wondered at first why I was brought here to this universe but now I understand that Canis and I were brought here for a reason. To bring the two genders back together again like it had been for generations."

Canis, Gascogne and Barnette do what they can to help. Canis stares at Barnette's back. He wonders what breeding techniques are used on Mejale to make someone like her look so pretty. In his eyes, Barnette was just perfect! From her face down to her feet, her form was absolutely stunning though the one thing he can't figure out is where Barnette got such a revealing outfit she wears. It was taunting him, no more like tempting him to remove it and see her in her full glory. He admits that he and the dark green-haired woman are good friends although he dreaded to think what Barnette's attitude towards men was like earlier in this journey. Fortunately Keith explained how Barnette acted like when he arrived in this universe during the raid on the Ikazuchi, their ship's former name. Surprisingly his fellow pilot told him that he managed to convince Barnette that not every single male was a brute or heartless. Keith said that this whole gender war started with an argument though he had no idea about what. Bit by bit the crew started to believe that what Keith said is true. Men and women used to live under the same roof peacefully and still can if the leaders of Tarak and Mejale are persuaded to reflect on the error they made before the two genders split and lived on separate planets. Gascogne notices Canis staring at Barnette's form and smirked.

She said, "Like what you see?"

Canis jumped, "Don't do that again."

Gascogne furthered, "I see that you have taken a liking to Barnette."

The NEXT pilot fired back, "So?"

The Reg leader's smirk grew wider, "Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

Canis immediately blushed, "What? I don't want to rush this friendship we have, Gascogne. I will tell her how I feel but not right now so back off!" Then he spots a woman collapse a few feet ahead of him. He picks her up and notices that she is heavier than normal the young Lynx immediately knew what this meant and asked Gascogne and Barnette to help him. In the infirmary Duero hooked Shirley up to a life-support machine but Duero knew that she's been contaminated at birth. Bart, determined to save the young girl offered any body part that was needed but Duero tells him that it's not that kind of problem.

Barnette just came in and screamed, "Doctor! It's an emergency!"

Duero asked, "What is it?"

Canis provided the answer, "I found this woman where we were at apparently she collapsed on her way here." The doctor ordered them to put her on the examination table they did so gently. Duero runs a small ultrasound over the woman and it flashed green over her bloated stomach.

Duero cried, "She's pregnant and it's almost time."

Gascogne added, "It doesn't matter who it is. Every one of them is sick." Just seeing these people suffer makes Canis' heart ache, he highly respects the value of life and what Earth was doing to these people made Canis sick to his stomach.

'Harvesting the organs of others for their own self-preservation, my ass.' Canis thought angrily.

Duero explained, "I've begun to formulate a theory about all of this. If they can avoid contamination at birth, they will be able to prevent contracting the disease for the rest of their lives." Outside Parfet and her fellow team of engineers looked at the smoking machine they used to launch some of the Pexis into the atmosphere in an attempt to terraform it but the plan ended in failure.

Parfet sighed, "I guess we are trying to change the entire planet, aren't we?"

Gascogne leaned against a large metal crate and said, "Perhaps we were rather foolish. If we had this kind of technology, I'm sure the problems on Mejale would've been solved a long time ago."

Barnette suggested, "Do you think you can quarantine the hospital right now?"

Parfet wondered, "Why?"

Barnette exclaimed, "There's a baby about to be born! The doctor said the reason why they are contaminated at birth is because they come into contact with the planet's atmosphere!"

Parfet thought up the solution, "So all we gotta do is make sure that they don't come into contact with the planet."

Pyoro whined, "But we don't have enough Pexis!"

The engineer fired back, "We'll just have to give it a shot! Let's get to work right away!"

Inside Vandread Jura Hibiki nearly fell out of his seat fatigued, "I can't take anymore of this." He felt Jura's breasts land on his head and shoved her off and screamed, "What do you think you're doing?"

Jura replied, "I'm just so exhausted." Suddenly the Vandread's radar pops up and showed a signature to the pilots. When they managed to get a visual they grew a panicked look on their faces.

Hibiki gasped, "The enemy's here!"

Jura cried, "Perfect timing as usual." They are ordered to hold their positions by Meia while she and the others take off to confront the incoming threat. Back on the poisoned planet Gascogne and Barnette head towards Shirley's room where they see Bart looking over the sick patient.

Gascogne informed, "Bart, the enemy is here it's time to go." Seeing the depressed look on Bart's face Gascogne furthered, "I know how much you want to stay here with her but without you the ship can't go anywhere."

Bart whispered, "Shirley."

Barnette urged, "Come on, Bart!" She was starting to get mad but Gascogne placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Bart balled his fists and made a vow to protect his friend.

He said, "Let's go!" The two women nodded.

Up in space Meia said, "Dita, until Barnette arrives I am leaving you in charge of the B-team. Are you alright with that?"

Dita replied, "Yeah. Mr. Alien is not here right now, I'll do my best!"

Meia smiled, "Roger that." Then she adorned a serious face, "All units, form up let's show them what we're made of!" She gets a 'roger' from the other pilots. Keith flew alongside Meia, protecting her from sneak attacks with his WADOU grenade rifle.

The fighters destroy 60 cube-types before Keith ordered, "All units, go for the main unit!" Meia shoots her craft's lasers at the cube-types but then four combine to form a deflecting shield. She shot a few more rounds before being forced out of her attack run.

Meia growled, "Grr, they're getting even smarter! This is not good!" Keith combines with Meia form Red Angel and blast away those four cube-types with its wing-mounted nuclear cannons. Down on the planet's surface the pregnant woman began to scream in pain.

Paiway yelled, "Doctor!"

Duero ordered, "The baby won't be born yet, start timing the intervals between contractions." Next he pulled out a communicator, "Parfet, how's everything going on your end?"

"Everything is going fine. We don't have time to test it but we'll have to make do with what we have." Parfet explained as she oversaw the construction of a small containment field made of a fraction of the Pexis over a hospital bed. Canis trashes 100 cube-types with his assault rifle before switching to the mult-chain missile launcher, after achieving a lock-on Savage Beast fires a salvo and inflicts structural damage to the Harvest cargo ship. Red Angel created its own path of destruction by throwing those spike discs. Barnette and Gascogne come up from the surface and join the fight. Of course, they are not alone.

They heard Bart over the radio saying, "I'm not going to let those jerks come any closer! No matter what happens I'm not going to budge an inch!" Hibiki and Jura look at each other with a surprised expresion on their faces over Bart's sudden change in attitude. All of a sudden the Nirvana undergoes a small transformation as launch ports appear on its wings and on top of the bridge. The fighters look on with awe at the sight.

Bart screamed, "Get away from this planet!" The launch ports unleash lasers at the enemy.

Hibiki informed, "You idiot! We're out here too, you know!" The allied fighters brace for impact but something completely unexpected happens, the lasers looped over the friendly aircraft and destroy the Harvest fleet sent here.

Jura asked, "What is that?"

Hibiki smirked, "He showed what it means to be a man." Keith on the other hand was busy. He defused Red Angel because his HMD picked up another soul-fused NEXT but when it came into visual range Keith's jaw dropped as he looked at the new enemy. It was an exact copy of Black Dragon! Weapons and all!

He mumbled, "What the?" He shook his head to make sure his mind isn't playing tricks on him. Then he sees it attacking Dita's Dread, Keith immediately rushes to her rescue before the doppelganger could cause further damage. As the two craft came close enough that blinding light appears and the two machines fuse. When the light died down the new NEXT stood ready for battle. It had dark blue over light blue colored armor, an HD-Lacel head part, a CR-Hogire core, AM-Soldner-G8A arms, LG-Lancel legs with a twin pair of spikes sticking out of the knees, EC-0307AB laser cannons for both its right and left back units, a 04-Marve assault rifle in its right hand, and 05-ANSR sniper rifle in its left, a plasma shield on the left forearm, and a specially designed metal sword on the right hip. Inside the cockpit Keith notices Dita sitting on his lap surveying the situation. When she turns around she spots Keith, Dita immediately began bouncing up and down on that certain part of his anatomy. Of course Dita felt that certain part of her anatomy starting to become stimulated by the friction she was causing.

Keith ordered, "Focus, Dita!" The redhead has known Keith for quite a while now so she knows that when it comes to enemy engagement, Keith meant business. She does what he says and focused on the task at hand. The new NEXT opens fire with its 04-Marve assault rifle but the imposter NEXT dodges it with expert skills. The battle went on for two hours but eventually Blue Wolf inflicts serious damage to Dark Dragon.

Keith and Dita begin to achieve a lock-on for the EC-0307AB laser cannons, just before pulling the trigger Keith heard a familiar voice, "Son."

Keith automatically went wide-eyed, "Father?" The enemy NEXT nodded its head. Keith's hands began to shake on top of Dita's. He asked, "Father? Is that really you?" First the Harvesters threw his dead friends against him and now they sent his dad after him?

Ryan said, "Keith I prayed that Earth wouldn't do this to me. They won't let my soul rest in peace because of this whole harvesting operation. I don't want to fight my own flesh and blood, plus Serena would never forgive me if I killed our only child. So Keith, please destroy this evil shell that I've been placed in and release me, only you have the courage to do so. Please son!" Dita looks at her friend. Keith is consumed by conflicting emotions. He couldn't kill his own father. The man who helped his wife raise Keith until their untimely deaths second Keith was disgusted at what his home world is doing to other thriving planets.

Keith said, "I can't do it! I can't fire on you!" Dita saw tears forming in his deep blue eyes this was extremely heart breaking to the 16-year old American, Keith felt his heart twist in pain.

Ryan told him, "Stop acting like a baby! Do you want the insane Earth destroy life as we know it? Please deliver the final blow!"

With a heavy heart his son accepted his request. Keith said, "Alright." The lock-on insignia turned red, "Good-bye, father. Forgive me, mom." Keith and Dita squeeze the trigger and the laser cannons charge up before firing, tears form in Blue Wolf's yellow eyes as if it was feeling the same way. The blue beams hit their mark and Keith watches in regret as Dark Dragon becomes engulfed with flames. He saw his dad's soul leave its imprisonment.

Ryan informed, "You did the right thing. Thank you, son." With that the black hostile NEXT explodes. The young Lynx couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

Keith screamed, "Father!" The others witnessed the whole thing and each one of them expressed their sadness in their own way. Some hung their heads low while others cried. But all of them agreed on one thing. They knew what it felt like to lose a loved one. Barnette, Meia and Dita are hit the hardest. They knew Keith better than anyone else. Blue Wolf defuses and Dita returns to the Nirvana with the others but Keith stayed. Canis felt his friend's pain. One reason why Canis became a NEXT pilot was so he could support his own family because his parents weren't really rich and he thought that high-paying missions would give him the money he needed.

Keith stared at the floated wreckage that was Dark Dragon, "Father. Father!" Black Dragon lets out a cry of anguish as it expressed its pilot's grief. No one would hear the sound because there is no air in space but it can be heard throughout the communication system. Keith silently returns to the ship and disembarks from his NEXT without saying a word. He just went to his room and continued to cry. It hurt so damn much. He feels as if he killed his own parent. He dreaded to think if the enemy has imprisoned the souls of his mom and Katrina into a NEXT. He just prayed that it didn't come to that. Magno and Parfet bid farewell to the leader of the planet. Parfet felt like there was nothing more they could do but the old man told them that they've given them hope. They have given them a beam of light in a rather dark and bleak world. There will be three beds then four beds, mothers will give birth to babies who will grow up into healthy adults that will plant seeds and eventually turn this world into a green, thriving planet again. After boarding the Nirvana, the crew immediately prepares to continue their journey home then they hear doors open and in came Bart with his newly shaved head. He shaved his head bald in memory of the doll that Shirley tried to make. He wore the doll around his neck.

Magno asked, "How's Keith?"

Belvedere answered, "He's calmed down somewhat but it's been quite hard on him. Right now, I can't bring myself to tell him not cry." Dita and Canis head to Keith's room and soon enough they find it.

Dita spoke through the speaker, "Keith?" There is no response so Dita pressed the button to open Keith's bedroom door, the two see him sitting on his bed clenching his fists. The redhead spoke again, "Keith." The black-haired American looked at Dita before burying his face in her chest still crying as Dita wrapped her arms around him to let him cry. Canis looks away to hide the sad expression on his face. Keith and Canis became very close friends as they grew up in Collared so the pilot of Savage Beast can understand where Keith is coming from. War is such a cruel thing. It changes lives forever and leaves scars in the hearts of survivors.

A/N: Chapter 3 done. How was it? I was actually choking up while I wrote it. I somehow managed to complete this chapter.

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 4.

Vader 23A.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Hostile Negotiations

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Keith is currently helping Parfet restoring a pair of worn out shoe lifts he found in the storage room. Surprisingly the lifts are still in good shape though restoring them to their former glory was no easy task. Parfet wipes the sweat from her forehead, after another hour the lifts were fully restored Keith took off his shoes and places the lifts inside then puts them back on. Rising to his feet Keith now stood at a height of 6'4, slightly taller than he did when he wore his combat boots. The lifts also had a positive effect on Keith's spine specifically on the upper part, making him walk straighter. Normally a person would put lifts inside his/her shoes or boots because they didn't like their natural born height and wanted to fit in with the crowd.

Keith said, "Well, Parfet that was certainly a hard task but I enjoyed it. I was getting tired of just looking tall whenever I wear my black boots. At least my shoes won't do any damage to my feet."

Parfet gave him a bright smile, "Thanks for helping me, Keith." The teenager nodded and left the engine control room.

The crew contacted the mission and a man with a shaved head and shaved eyebrows appeared on the main screen.

He said, "Is someone still using that frontier ship signal? Who are you pumpkins?"

Belvedere cried, "He's awfully rude, ain't he?"

BC cleared her throat, "We come from Mejale and we request permission to come on board for re-supplying."

The man scoffed, "Ha! What makes you think we'll allow you to board? We're running short ourselves."

The commander added, "We also have some well talented engineers on board that can help you with repairs."

The bald man looked away to debate with some others before he made his decision, "Our rule here is eat or be eaten so if you don't care about your personal safety then come on board!"

BC smiled, "Thank you." Keith heads to the hanger after receiving word from his lover Meia that they've come across another mission. He stopped by his gun vault in his room and opened the doors to pick out the guns he will need for the upcoming sortie.

He chooses a modified 9mm, M9A1 pistol used by a U.S. marine, hunting knife and an M-4 carbine assault rifle. He activates the safety lock on both guns and picks up some customization parts before closing the door to his weapons vault and exiting the room. He meets up with the others, he greets them and they returned the favor. Keith gets busy installing a rifle scope, a laser pointer, and a force grip to increase stability when firing the weapon and a suppressor onto his M-4.

Jura spots Barnette putting down a bag housing different kinds of guns and a case holding another weapon. Next she customizes her new toy she got for Christmas, the HK-416 carbine assault rifle. She adds a rifle scope and a grenade launcher. Barnette's passion for collecting antique firearms definitely showed.

Jura asked, "What are you doing with all of that stuff, Barnette?"

Barnette replied with a mischievous smile, "Well, there is a chance where we might see some close-range combat so it's best to be prepared for the unexpected."

BC said, "We're going in a small group so don't shoot unless necessary."

Hibiki called out, "Let me go, too! I want to check out this place as well!" They board a transport shuttle and head for docking hanger K2 while BC directed Dita to head for docking hanger 5A.

Keith and Barnette press against either sides of the wall by the door. The dark green-haired woman replaced her long purple gloves with fingerless ones and wore a vest like her sub-leader.

Keith loads a magazine cartridge into his M-4, turns the safety lock off and sets the gun for full automatic mode before cocking it then he turns to see Barnette taking the safety lock off on her pistol they look at each other and nod.

Barnette places her hand on the scanner and a moment later the door opens. They survey the interior of the mission it was badly damaged.

The power grid was barely keeping the life-support systems online, the air smelled funny, water pipes were leaking, etc.

Gascogne said sarcastically, "What a palace." The inhabitants ranged from kids to adults of both genders.

Barnette cautiously walks down the stairs while keeping her gun pointed at the inhabitants.

She warned, "Stay where you are! Come any closer and I'll shoot!"

Dita grabbed her camera and was about to take a picture but Hibiki stopped her.

He said in annoyance, "Stop that, will you? Jesus!"

Dita asked, "What's wrong?"

Pyoro replied, "He's just scared." The group spots the bald headed guy on top of the stairs.

He jerked his head and ordered, "Follow me." The guy had an impressive build and stood probably at 6'1. The male adults begin making wolf cries because the raiding group had some pretty females.

Jura blew kisses at the males and Keith walked up to her and warned, "Be careful who you blow kisses at, Jura because these guys can be perverts." She takes his advice into account and kept her guard up. The group is led to an arena surrounded by fences topped with barbed wiring. They hear a chuckle coming from a young woman with long purple hair and wearing a rusty red jump suit.

She said, "Looks like we have some guests."

BC asked, "Are you their leader?"

The woman answered, "I wouldn't exactly be called that but considering that there isn't a guy with enough guts to stand up to me right, Patch?"

The guy replied nervously, "Uh, yes. It would be foolish to go up against you, Ms. Liz."

Liz asked, "So, Patch where do our guests come from?"

BC answered, "We come from Mejale."

The thug leader said to herself, "So our guests come from behind the magnetic storm?" Then looked at the group, "No wonder you don't know how to talk."

Parfet mumbled, "Magnetic storm?"

"Well, it seems they know who we are so it's no surprise they would tease us a little." Gascogne said while keeping an eye out for anything.

BC said, "We hereby request permission for a short rest and re-supply, in return we'll share out technical expertise with you."

Liz said, "Thanks for the offer but we're not in trouble at the moment however, we do lack some entertainment."

The Nirvana commander narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

Keith replied, "She means that we're going have to fight for our right to gain the supplies. Am I right, Ms. Liz?"

Liz smirked, "You are correct, boy! How about a six on six fight anything but projectiles is fine by me."

Hibiki cried, "Sure."

BC thought up an alternative, "How about we have a fight between representatives?"

Liz agreed, "Okay. What about you, boy? Think you can take on Patch?"

Keith shrugged, "Fine by me. It's been a while since I last delivered a high-class, restaurant quality ass-whipping to another human opponent." He pulls out some type of syringe and injects a strength enhancement into his system. Usually Keith would rely on his own incredible strength to fight in hand-to-hand combat but after observing Patch's size, Keith concludes that the man is heavier than him.

BC pulls out a whip. Some of the crew members saw that and immediately felt a shiver running down their spines.

Pyoro said, "It fits her so well, it's almost scary."

Gascogne cried, "It's been a while since BC brought that old thing out."

The platinum-haired woman snaps the whip testing it.

She said, "So, Ms. Liz when does the bell ring?" The taunt easily got under Liz's skin. She grabbed a tube and activates it, turning it into a saber. The two weapons clash while Keith and Patch start their fight.

The thug makes the first move and throws a punch, intending on taking Keith's head off but Keith avoids the attack and immediately retaliates. He grabs Patch and knees him in the gut. Next Keith throws a kick into his opponent's jaw and sending him to the ground. Patch wiped the blood away from his mouth and charges again, the NEXT pilot ducks and throws his foot but Patch catches and smirked, however he was completely oblivious that this is a feint. Keith uses his free foot and swings it into the back of Patch's head, performing the enzuigiri and causing the thug to let go of the foot he is holding.

On the Nirvana Canis, Meia and Duero look over the schematics of the mission.

"Although it doesn't look like much but their radar has some faults." Meia said as she overlooked the schematics.

Duero added, "And it seems that these people are just doing their best to survive."

Meia narrowed her eyes, "Take a look at that. It seems that they suffered some recent damage."

Canis explained, "That doesn't seem like meteorite damage to me, it looks more like damage from a battle outside of the place. And we all know who is the most likely candidate to try and attack a structure filled with people."

Duero gasped, "The Harvesters." Then they hear a beeping and both Meia and Canis look at each other and nod before heading out with the other Dread pilots.

Back to the fight, Liz throws a pair of knifes at BC but the commander deflects them with her whip and wrapped it around Liz's leg like a snake and pulls her down. As BC closed in for the kill someone outside the arena pushed a button, which in turn caused a block to come of nowhere and hit her.

Patch throws a punch at Keith but the 16-year old ducks when the bald man turned, Keith picks him up and then body slams Patch onto the ground with a thud. Keith fell to one knee from the force of the move.

Parfet gasped, "He did it again!"

Barnette added, "Unbelievable strength by Keith!"

Jura shivered, "That is some scary strength!" That body slam was only made possible by the strength enhancement coursing through his system currently, though they didn't see him inject himself with it.

Keith gains an intense look in his eyes as he ran a thumb across his throat. When his fatigued opponent gets up and turns around, Keith scoops Patch up and turns him over so that his head was aligned with the ground. Keith then dropped to his knees, delivering the Tombstone. The Lynx stood up afterwards knowing he won this match, he turns his head toward BC and spots Liz about to deliver the final blow.

BC smirked and used her whip to trip her opponent.

Then they heard a familiar voice, "My, my, I never thought I'd see the day you got beaten, Liz." The Nirvana crew knew that voice could only belong to one man: Rabat!

Liz instantly blushed when she saw him. Keith can only guess that they have known each other for some time. Keith can also remember the time where he beat Rabat's ass.

Liz screamed, "How did you managed to get in here, anyway?"

"The security here is full of unprotected areas just like your fighting style, Liz." Rabat joked as he smirked at the same time.

She growled, "I wonder how many times you intend to irritate me until you're satisfied!"

The trader looked thoughtful as he scratched the tip of his nose, "You know, I actually lost count." The conversation is interrupted when the mission shook violently.

Dita asked, "What was that?" Keith knew who that could be.

Outside the station, the Harvesters unleashed capsule-like objects at the mission. When the head of the projectiles touch the outer hall they burn the layer of metal and sent gel objects into the interior. Rabat explained that those gel-like objects were refugees that probably escaped the harvest. In a better perspective they are outcasts driven from their home worlds and wandered endlessly throughout the universe until they banded together in this piece of garbage called a mission.

Patch managed to regain consciousness after being dropped on his head.

He said, "Just when we managed to forget about them, they come bothering us again. It's almost like they're toying with us!" BC began barking orders. Gascogne and Parfet will help Patch leading the civilians to the central control room, the safest place here. She, Jura and Barnette will help Keith stave off the invaders to make sure the civilians are safe. And finally Dita and Hibiki will head to their respective craft and head for the battle outside. They commence the operation.

Outside the mission Meia and the others have taken off to confront the incoming cube-types and two soul-fused NEXTs.

Canis looks at the two and recognizes them. The first one was the NEXT of the most prideful of all Lynx, Wynne D. Fanchon. The second was more of a shock. It's a NEXT that Canis knows all too well.

Canis said, "The original Red Angel? No, it can't be!" He knew only one female Lynx pilots this Armored Core.

Meia ordered, "Everyone, keep the enemy away from the mission!"

Canis added, "You heard her. Time to kick some ass, ladies!" Savage Beast unloads a salvo of missiles from its BM05-LAMIA AS missile launcher at the cube-types. He then turns his attention to the two NEXTs; he pulls out the beam saber and charges at them.

Back inside the mission BC, Keith, Jura and Barnette wait for the enemy's arrival. The door panel flashes red and the door opens up, this was their cue to open fire. Jura fired her laser ring at the gel-like entities but the beams merely bounced off.

"What? A prism effect?" BC exclaimed with a look of surprise on her face.

Unfazed by the beams one of the gels neared Jura but then it explodes and its remnants splash onto her dress, "Yuck, what are they?" She said with disgust.

Barnette smirked, "At times when a beam doesn't work, use something solid." She gives her friend one of her assault rifles, "Here, Jura use this." The blonde nodded and grabbed the weapon. A second enemy wave approaches.

Jura growled, "Ahhh! Get away from me!" She pulls the trigger and a rain of lead comes pouring out the gun's barrel.

"Oh yeah, this is how real combat is supposed to be." Barnette said with the biggest grin she could form on her face, which was shaking from the constant fire. Eventually her HK-416 runs out of ammo.

She moaned, "Ah! I'm out of shells!" She picks up an even deadlier assault rifle with rail bullets, "Come on." She challenged them.

"May I barrow this?" She heard BC asking as she pulled out a high-powered shotgun from a case.

Barnette started, "Um, commander do you know how to…" She didn't have time to finish as BC shot at the gels from her position with excellent marksmen ship.

After pumping out the last empty shell the commander looked at Barnette and asked, "What? Did you say something?"

Barnette looked at her sheepishly, "Oh, nothing. Never mind." The Dread pilot didn't want to be on the receiving end of that gun.

Keith hears a noise from behind and turns around.

He cursed, "Damn it! They're behind us as well!" Then a wall of flame appeared in front of him and fried the enemy. He moves his head and sees Liz with a flamethrower.

She smirked, "Well, I can't let you have all the glory." Rabat looked down from a balcony.

He groaned, "Man, it's like for the most socially challenged." Without even looking he pulled his pistol and shot a gel that was sneaking up behind him, "Sheesh. Well, I guess I can't sit here and enjoy the show." He jumps from the balcony and joined the group.

Outside the mission Meia said, "Bart!" The pilots needed cover now!

Inside the 360-degree dome the helmsman cried, "I think I can hit them all but one of the lasers might end up hitting the station. You have got to drive them further away!"

Meia smirked a bit, "You make it so sound easy." Eventually Hibiki and Dita make it out and fuse their machines together to create Vandread Dita. Meia looked at the sight.

Inside the cockpit Dita surveyed the change of the design, "Wow! What is this?"

Pyoro shrieked, "What's going on? What a kinky looking cockpit. I think I smell sexual arousal." Dita was embarrassed to see someone else noticing the position they were in.

Hibiki snapped, "Will you just shut up!"

Dita said, "Um, Mr. Alien?" Hibiki looks at the change of the cockpit design too.

"Hey! What are you waiting for? BC and the others need help!" Magno shouted as she got their attention.

Inside the station BC and others retreat to the central control room, Barnette was down to her pistol so was Keith. Barnette slammed her fist onto the scanner to seal the door. They are safe for the moment. But their relief is short lived when they see the door open and the gels move forward, the only thing stopping them is a laser grid.

"Well, it's only a matter time now." Gascogne said as she cracked her knuckles in preparation for close-quarters combat. Keith loads his last clip into his M9A1 pistol. Suddenly the gels change from green to bright yellow.

BC exclaimed, "They're changing form?"

Rabat commented, "That's pretty impressive." As the laser grid shut down the gang prepared to fight when they see Vandread Dita coming to their rescue and destroyed the hostiles.

Dita said, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

'What took them so long?' Keith thought.

He heard Rabat saying, "A blue Kachina!"

"If you think you took your time to make a grand entrance, you won't live long enough to regret it!" The Reg leader informed with an extremely pissed off smirk, that's something that Keith didn't see every day. He dreaded to think what Gascogne sounded like if he saw her mad. Regardless this allowed Keith and Barnette to get to their craft and join the battle.

After trashing another group of cube-types Meia asked, "Well, Bart? How's it looking?"

Seeing the enemy is far enough from the mission he locks onto the targets.

He yelled, "Okay. Let's go!" He fires the Nirvana's lasers at the Harvesters, obliterating them with ease.

Keith rushes to Canis' aid and attacks the red NEXT. Of course the moment he saw the opponent he ceased his attack. The red NEXT stops its attack as well.

Keith gasped, "Ka-Katrina?"

She gasped as well, "Keith? My friend! Is that you?" The black machine nodded. Keith felt his heart twist in pain again as he looked at his fallen love. The two just stare at each other for what seemed an eternity.

Fanchon kicks Savage Beast away and sees Black Dragon. Remembering how she was killed by Keith, she loathed him ever since. This was her chance for pay back!

A warning inside Black Dragon's cockpit snaps Keith out of his trance and he turns to see Fanchon speeding towards him with her arm mounted laser sword poised to strike.

Katrina shouted, "Keith!" She gets in front of him and takes the blow. Keith's eyes widen as the memory of her taking a hit from Adam's grenade rifle played in his mind. He was reliving that terrible moment!

Enraged by the memory, Keith removes the laser sword from the original Red Angel's chest and repelled Wynne D. Fanchon by rapid firing the Karasawa Mk 3 laser rifle before delivering the coup de grad with his 07-Moonlight beam saber and WADOU grenade rifle. Immediately after destroying the enemy and returning his weapons to stand by, he turns around to see Red Angel covering the hole in its chest with its hand. The two machines stare at each other.

Keith said, "Katrina, they got you too?"

Katrina replied, "Yes, my friend. It's true. However, I had no interest in hurting you. You are too precious to me." Then her machine explodes right in front of the 16-year old American. He is gripped with terror at what he witnessed. The next thing he sees is Katrina's spirit materializing in front of him. She looked at him with a warm smile on her face.

Keith cried, "Curse you, Harvesters! I've had enough of this! Why does this keep happening to me?"

Katrina told him, "Keith, please don't cry. We all have to die someday."

The 16-year old objected, "But they tried to make you fight me! You're suppose to die of old age! Your time came too early!" Katrina cupped his cheeks with both of her hands and looked at him straight in the eyes.

She assured, "Death is a part of life, Keith. I will always be with you, inside your heart. We'll meet again someday. Go now Meia is waiting for you. I'll make sure that the Harvesters will not trap your mother's soul into a NEXT. Remember you can always talk to me in your dreams, Keith. Take care, my friend." Her spirit disappeared after that.

He returns to the Nirvana and exits his NEXT.

He is stopped by Barnette when she asked, "Yo, Keith what's the matter? You don't look well."

He lied, "It's nothing really I just need to rest for a while. Thank you for your concern, Barnette." He walks past the others Meia sees him and follows him.

Remaining true to their word, the crew helps with repairs to the mission. Replacing any old metal plating with new ones as well as fixing the power grid and water circulation by patching up the pipes. They planted air freshener grenades to fumigate the air. Keith enters his room and collapses onto his bed after removing his shoes. He stares at the ceiling until he hears his door panel buzz.

He cried, "Come in, Meia." The door opens to reveal the blue-haired woman. She can tell that Keith was depressed. He stood up to face her at the edge of his bed.

She asked, "It was Katrina, wasn't it?"

Keith looked at her, "How did you…"

She told him, "I saw that look on your face, Keith." He turned around so his clothed back was shown to her.

He said, "I'm such a failure, Meia. I am not strong enough to protect anyone!"

Meia gently told him, "Keith, please turn around." He did so and looked at Meia. Keith was open mouthed at what he saw.

Meia had removed her flight suit and is now only in her lace blue panties. She looked beautiful even in just her under garments.

He closes his mouth to make sure he didn't drool at the sight of this goddess of beauty standing in front of him. Meia reaches out and grabbed Keith's head and places it on her chest. Keith felt like he was going to have a nosebleed from seeing Meia's breasts this close-up.

She gently stroked his black hair, "Don't say such a thing, Keith. You _are_ strong enough to protect someone like the time you saved me from that cube-type that was planning to take me out at point-blank range. It just takes time to summon the courage to do so. But you are one of the bravest people I have ever met, Keith Oswell."

Keith wrapped his arms around her bare back, "Meia." The Dread leader smiled as she felt his warm hands on her back.

Meia assured him, "Don't worry. I'm here for you, love."

Unknown to them, Barnette witnessed the whole thing and blushes from what she sees. She thought up of what it'd be like if she was in the same state of being almost naked with Canis like Meia is doing with Keith. She didn't want to tell Jura because she would immediately ask for details so Barnette decides to keep this to herself. She then sees Keith getting into his bed before Meia climbed on top of him and laid her head against his chest as she listened to the peaceful sounds of his heart beat and Keith pulled the covers onto them both. Then they fall asleep. Meia really does love Keith. She loves him with no fear at all; she vows to never let Keith be alone in his life again.

Later that day the council on the corrupted Earth receive a message from two unknown senders when they play it, they see Canis and Barnette looking at the monitor as the recording started. You can tell that they were really pissed off over the Earth's doings. The rest of the Nirvana crew felt the same way.

Canis said, "Planet Earth, unbelievable. You are the only one that has seen the meaning behind the Demons of Hell. Fighting for what you believe in, defying higher authority, having no respect to brutal opponents whatsoever you knew the impact Katrina had on Keith and I when we were her disciples. You knew the kind of impact she had on us when we became full-fledged NEXT pilots, over time we came to know her not only as a mentor but also as a close personal friend. Congratulations, nimrods. You now made this personal! Today what you did to Keith, you committed one of the most heinous acts ever known. The pain and sadness that you put him through today is not going to compare to what you suffer at the hands of the Demons of Hell. You now know how scary Keith can be when he is mad." Barnette's eyebrows twitched in rage before the recording stops.

A/N: Chapter 4 done. Oh my, this war has now become personal. I can imagine the carnage that Keith and Canis will create when the final showdown happens.

I added a lime here. Well, I changed my mind on the lime and decided that Meia should be topless for this one. I'm debating on whether I should do a lemon in the next chapter or not. And if I do what pairing should I use? Canis and Barnette or Dita and Hibiki.

Let me know in your reviews, readers.

Read and review.

Stay tuned for chapter 5.

Vader 23A.


	5. Chapter 5 lemon

Chapter 5: Terrorist Attack!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

The next morning Keith wakes up after a goodnight sleep, he feels Meia laying on top of him in nothing but her lace blue panties. He smirked at the sight of this goddess of beauty laying on him. As their relationship continued to grow, Meia had become more comfortable around Keith. She would occasionally tease him by stripping herself down to her under garments or being nude but she made sure that it didn't get out of hand. Keith is still trying to heal his broken heart and that is something the Dread leader wanted to help him with. He accepted her help.

Meia finally woke up and looks at her lover with a bright smile, she feels Keith running a hand up and down her back, which send waves of pleasure coursing throughout her body not enough to make her sexually aroused but enough to make her feel happy.

Keith said, "Morning, sleepy head."

Meia playfully flicks Keith's forehead before she got off of him to let Keith get out of bed and do his morning routine of stretching, going to the bathroom to relief himself, take a shower and brush his teeth.

He brought a pair of fresh clothes with him into the bathroom. He sat them on one side of the sink as he showered. When he got out he dried himself off before putting on his new set of underwear and pants, next he brushed his teeth, rinsed his mouth then put on his black T-shirt. He walked out of the bathroom and told Meia that the shower is free.

She grabbed her discarded bra and took her turn and went into the bathroom to take her shower. She removed her remaining under garment and hopped into the shower. She turned the handle and warm water began cascading down her body.

Keith waited outside and had a sense of foreboding he felt that something terrible is going to happen soon. He then heard the water stop running and Meia walks out with a towel wrapped around her frame after she got done brushing her teeth. Keith turns around to allow her to get dressed Meia puts on her under garments back on before getting into her flight suit and putting her circlet on. Keith puts on his shoes and his own circlet then they both exit the room. Keith calls a meeting with Magno, BC, Gascogne, Canis and Meia. He sits down and adorned a serious look on his face.

Magno asked, "So why is it that you called this meeting, Keith?"

Keith replied, "Because my anxiety is telling me that something bad will happen soon. The Harvesters have remained quiet for 3 weeks now and it's making me feel uneasy." He turned to look at BC, "Do you know what star system we are passing by?"

BC nodded, "Yeah, we are passing through the multiple star system Widow."

Keith's eyes immediately widen, "Oh no, this multiple star system is known to have pirate and terrorist activity! But the most dangerous terrorist group is the Liliana."

Magno raised an eyebrow, "Liliana?"

Canis explained, "They are an extremist anti-establishment group, more radical than Line Ark was. They are committed to violence for its own sake and nothing else they're really dangerous. Keith encountered them when the Liliana terrorists captured Cradle 21 during its trial operation. Fortunately at the time they only had Normals so they didn't prove much of a challenge to his NEXT but considering how much technology has improved over the centuries there's a high probability that they have the technology to create NEXTs of medium models. We don't have any further information about the group but if they pick up the Nirvana's radar signature, they'll come pouncing on us how many of your crew are trained in close quarters combat?"

Gascogne closed her eyes to think then opened them again.

She said, "Only me, BC, Meia and Barnette." That's not good.

Keith rubbed his temples, "Oh, this is going to be a real kill joy. Captain, we need to train the rest of your crew in CQC because the Liliana terrorists are not to be taken lightly. They won't let the crew use their laser rings or rifles they have. Sometimes melee combat can be just as deadly."

Magno thought it over and agreed, "Very well, when do you want to begin training the crew?"

Keith suggested, "As soon as possible."

The pirate leader concluded, "Alright. Keith, Canis, you have my permission to train the crew." The two NEXT pilots thanked Magno and end the meeting. The crew is led to a huge training room, they wander why they were asked to come here until they see Keith and Canis stopping in front of them.

Canis announced, "Okay, ladies listen up. The sector we're passing through is filled with rival space pirates and terrorists and there's a possibility that the Liliana can attack us so Keith and I have decided that we should train you in melee combat. That includes fist fighting, kicking, swords, knives, etc. These terrorists are not amateurs they will kill you with no remorse whatsoever. You will be trained to make sure that you will be ready to fight in close-range combat. Let us begin!"

The crew forms up into two separate lines so Keith and Canis could teach easier. They start off by teaching the ladies the basics of CQC with disabling an armed opponent, counter attacks, and so on. Once the two NEXT pilots got done teaching them the basics, they let Meia and Barnette take over and allow them to go over the advanced moves. The crew turned out to be fast learners; they quickly learned all of the advanced moves.

Barnette, at one point during the session, got a little carried away in telling how to break your opponent's limbs so Keith had to remind her that this was for self-defense. She quickly apologized and restrained herself. Around 12:30 p.m. the crew finished up their training session and they head to the cafeteria for lunch. So far the Nirvana has remained undetected by enemy radar though Keith wonders how long that will last.

He and Canis finish their meal early and said they had some important stuff to take care of.

Barnette finishes her meal and follows Canis she gets a strange feeling in her heart whenever she is around Canis. It's a feeling she doesn't know but Barnette had a hunch that the 17-year old Lynx would know. She needed to know. She sees him inside the cockpit of her Dread, when Barnette got closer she notices him fixing some wiring that powered her weapon systems, he is so focused on the task at hand that he didn't hear Barnette walking up to him.

She asked, "What are you doing?"

Canis peeked out from under the computer console and answered, "I am putting on some new covering for the wiring so you won't get shocked by any exposed copper." Once he got done, Canis puts the repaired wiring back into place and closed the cover. He then steps out of the cockpit and asked Barnette to try a system test.

She gets inside and activated the system. The majority of the test went well until they saw an error in the release latch it seemed to be jammed.

Canis puts a finger on his chin as he thought up a solution, when he pulled his arm back his elbow came into contact with one of Barnette's breasts. This startled both of them and Barnette covered both of her breasts while blushing at the same time.

Canis apologized, "I'm sorry, Barnette. It was an accident!"

The dark green-haired pilot just stares at him with her violet eyes before she took his hands and placed them on her breasts. The accidental touch sparked something deep within her. Her friend asked what she was doing. Barnette didn't answer but she guided his hands on her breasts and for some unknown reason to her, Barnette enjoyed having her breasts rubbed by him even if she was the one doing it. Canis on the other hand is confused by this sudden action from the Dread pilot. All of a sudden she pulls him into the cockpit and switched places so she was straddling him, Canis was blushing like mad, he hadn't seen this side of Barnette before then she did something completely unexpected she kissed him.

'Oh my lord, her lips taste so sweet.' Canis thought.

They separated and both were blushing, well Canis was blushing more because this was his first kiss by a pretty woman, or more importantly by a Majelian.

Canis admitted, "That was unexpected from you, Barnette." Just saying that made the dark green-haired Dread pilot press her lips against his again but this time it is more intense.

Canis' hand started to reach for the latch on Barnette's neck that held her uniform's shoulder pads in place. Once he undone it he removes the pads, exposing more skin to Canis' eyes. Barnette notices his stare and couldn't help but blush brighter.

She asked seductively, "Like what you see, boy?"

Canis replied, "Yeah. I don't know what kind of breeding techniques your people use but they sure as hell did an excellent job on making you look really pretty, Barnette." Barnette laughed at that but she also understood that he meant what he said. Sadly before they could continue, an alarm blares throughout the hanger. Barnette moaned at this and put her shoulder pads back on and secured the latch.

Hearing this the young Lynx said, "We'll finish this deed after battle, my friend. That is a promise." That tingling sensation that Barnette felt during this little make-out session turns into lust but she suppresses it for now. She knew she had to wait until the battle was over.

She got off of him reluctantly and let him board his NEXT. The fighters take off and move out to confront the enemy, soon enough they get a visual.

Meia cried, "That's them. The Liliana terrorists that Keith and Canis were talking about, all units commence attack! Watch out for enemy ambushes!" The other pilots obey her command and they open fire on the enemy fleet.

The enemy fleet is comprised of aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. The ships' designs are a lot different from the ships used by the Harvesters so the crew assumed that these hostiles must have built their own fleet.

Over the course of the battle, two cruisers sneak past the Nirvana's firing range of the lasers and fire a full broadside of their main gun batteries. Lethal 8-ton shells penetrate the shields and hit the Nirvana on her portside. Inside the Reg Central storage room, the impact knocked reserve missiles down onto the ground, some of the missiles leaked fuel and sparks from a hanging wire ignites it. An explosion rocks the ship.

Belvedere said, "There's been an explosion at the Reg Central weapons storage room! A fire has broken out!"

Keith came up on the monitor and informed, "Have the damage control team extinguish those flames and remove anything flammable out of that room, the ammo especially."

Magno immediately tells the damage control team to head to the Reg Central storage room. When they get there, they see Gascogne helping the stagehands treating burn victims.

Keith arrives and observes the situation. He brought his M-4 carbine assault rifle just in case. He runs over to the Reg leader and looks at one of the burn victims. He takes a look at the severity of the burns.

Keith said, "She has third and second-degree burns over 30% of her body. The first thing we need to do is cut the uniform off because it's keeping in the heat." He asked for a pair of scissors, which he receives from a fellow stagehand. He hands them to Gascogne and explained the next instructions, "Now take the scissors and start cutting this girl's uniform, be careful not to cut fast because you could be cutting charred skin." Once the top part of the uniform is removed, the damage becomes apparent.

Gascogne gasped, "My god."

The NEXT pilot went on, "The next thing we need to do is cool the skin down, the black marks are the third-degree burns so she won't be able to feel anything but the second-degree burns she will feel that. It will hurt like hell but it'll help with the pain management. After that we need to keep her warm. She has lost so much skin that she has lost her ability to regulate her body heat. If her core temperature drops below 95 degrees, she will go into shock and quite possibly die."

Gascogne follows his instructions and does what he says. After covering the stagehand in a blanket she orders the burn victim to be taken to the emergency room. The victim is put on a stretcher and taken away. Keith looks through the window of the storage room and sees smoke. He orders the damage control team to back up; Gascogne sees this and understood what this meant.

She explained, "There's a high probability that a flashover can happen at any moment. The inside of that room has got to be a scorching 500 degrees Fahrenheit, Keith sees that the material inside has begun to smolder, it is dying to find more oxygen." Realizing that the hot gases have found fresh oxygen Gascogne screamed, "Everyone, take cover! It's gonna blow!"

The occupants find shelter underneath the desks and then all of a sudden the flashover happens. The force of it is so strong that it blows the door off and sends it flying through the open door and into the hallway. The storage room's sprinkler system activates gouging the flames with cold water. In a few minutes the fire is put out but the smoke is still present. An emergency door slides down and the ventilation duct in the room is closed to prevent the smoke from spreading to other parts of the ship. After that the air filtering system kicks in, clearing the sealed room of toxic smoke. The situation gets worse as the Liliana fleet sent 9 transport ships into the breached areas.

Keith leaves Reg Central and ordered, "Captain, there's been a security breach off the portside! I want a security team to come with me and send the unarmed personnel to their rooms and tell them to lock their doors. Tell them not to come out until it's safe to do so. We have 4 minutes before an enemy boarding party reaches my position."

Magno nodded, "Understood. Send three squads to Keith's location and tell any off duty personnel to go into their rooms and have them lock their doors." The armed squads reached Keith's location and they load their weapons then wait. Unknown to him one member of the enemy boarding party sneaks up behind Keith but then a security guard quietly walks up behind the terrorist and snaps his neck, killing him instantly.

Keith hears the sound of a body falling to the floor, he turns around and saw the security guard take down the terrorist. He thanked her then hears footsteps coming from the hallway. Keith pokes his head out to look, he spots 16 terrorists armed with apparently just AK-47s. Keith removes his face from the enemy's line of sight and signal the others to get ready. They cock their weapons as quietly as they can. Keith looked at the female guard who is leaning against the right side of the doorway. They both nod and Keith used his fingers for the count down.

Keith whispered, "3,2,1. Now!" The guard throws a flash bang grenade and Keith orders them to open fire. 10 of the terrorists are gunned down while the remaining 6 take cover.

Outside in space the Dreads take on the enemy fighters, the pilots were rookies meaning they have received little flight training. The Dreads shoot them down.

Canis aims for an enemy cruiser's upper structures like the bridge and so forth because the armor is just 2 inches thick, weak enough to allow a round from Savage Beast's rifles to punch through and inflict major damage inside. The NEXT fires its assault and laser rifle and scores a direct at the ship's magazine, the powder in it catches fire and blows the ship apart.

Canis yelled, "Whoa! Did you see that? That thing practically blew up like the 4th of July!" He turns his machine around to see Barnette's Dread getting pummeled by anti-fire from a battleship. He rushes to her aid and then their machines combine.

The newly fused NEXT had black over red colored armor, a dark blue eye, retained the head and core part of Savage Beast, had AM-Soldner-G8A arms, LG-Hogire legs, an OGOTO grenade cannon for the right back unit, a WHEELING-03 (longer and skinnier version of the WHEELING-01) multi-chain missile launcher for the left, NEMAHA-01 vertical support missiles on its shoulders, an HLR09-BECRUX high-laser rifle in its right hand, and an EB-R500 laser blade on the left forearm. Black Demon stood ready for battle.

Inside the cockpit, Canis notices Barnette sitting on his lap and her hands intertwined with his.

Barnette looked at him and said, "This is awkward, huh?"

Canis nodded, "Yeah. Come on, let's kick some terrorist ass, Barnette!" The dark-green haired pilot couldn't agree any better.

Black Demon speeds through the anti-aircraft fire of the battleship. They switch to the WHEELING-03 and gain an 11-lock max; they open up the vertical support missiles and then fire both simultaneously. The missiles score a direct hit on the enemy's bridge and the vessel explodes soon the entire Liliana fleet is destroyed. Score another victory for the Nirvana crew. Back inside the breached hallway Keith and the security team finish off the remaining members of the boarding party.

One of the guards contacted Magno, "Captain, we've managed to deal with the boarding party. The area is secured."

"Serves you right, you cold hearted piece of trash!" Keith said in the background. The rest of the day was spent treating the burn victims and repairing the ship. The Dreads land in the hanger and their pilots come out.

The pirate leader sees that Canis and Barnette haven't returned and was about to contact them but Keith stopped her, "Leave them alone for a while, captain. They have finally gotten the courage to express how they feel about each other."

Black Demon magnetizes its feet to the Nirvana's left wing and the pilots turn off all communications to the ship.

Barnette traced circles around Canis' chest. She purred, "Now where were we?"

Canis teased, "Oh, I remember." Their lips met again.

(Okay, here's my second lemon. Enjoy.)

Canis intertwined his hand with Barnette's as he used his other hand to rub her right breast through the fabric of her outfit. Barnette moaned softly as she invaded his mouth, their tongues dueled with one another for dominance.

Canis undid the clasp for the shoulder pads of Barnette's outfit and slid them off then Barnette removed her long gloves and boots, leaving her in her bathing suit like bodice. Canis kissed her neck then her collarbone, making the brunette moan in pleasure. Her Mejale bred instincts were erased as she continued to make-out with her friend now lover.

She parted her lips and placed her hands on her hips.

She said, "This is unfair, Canis. I'm almost bare of clothing and you're not, that won't do." He could sense how seductive her tone is. He could also tell that this lovemaking is turning her on.

He replied, "Oops, guess I got a little sidetracked from pleasing you so much." He helped her remove his shirt and pants. Barnette admired how sculpted Canis' body was she ran her hands up and down his chest. Somehow seeing his muscles for the first time without having a shirt on excited Barnette even more. Then she decided to fully reveal herself to Canis.

She reached behind her back and detached the clasps and then she slowly removed the last article of clothing. Now she stood there in her full glory. Canis discovered she didn't wear a set of panties but he understood that Barnette did so for this very moment he also spotted that she was very wet now. Barnette noticed the bulge in Canis' underwear and pulled them down to reveal his erected member Barnette stared at it for a moment.

Canis returned his hands to her breasts and licked her nipple while rubbing the other. Guided by instinct Barnette started rubbing his cock, sending waves of pleasure through Canis. Then she did another unexpected move, she went lower and took him into her mouth. She moved up and down faster until Canis came in Barnette's mouth. She swallowed the liquid, it tasted a bit salty but nothing toxic.

Deciding it's now his turn to please her they switch places so Barnette is the one on the seat as Canis started licking her pussy. The Dread pilot moaned loudly at the ecstasy, soon enough she came as well. Canis took in her juices without hesitation. Finally unable to resist the temptation anymore, both of them decide it was time for the real thing. They switched places so Canis sat on the seat and Barnette hovered above him as she aligned herself up with his penis.

Canis gulped nervously, "Ready, Barnette?"

Barnette nodded, "Yes." She lowered herself onto him, clenching her teeth to prevent from crying out in pain as she broke her barrier. She stopped to allow herself get used to his member being inside her, soon the pain is gone and replaced by an indescribable craving. Barnette wrapped her arms around Canis' neck as she starts to bounce on his manhood. She gasped as she felt Canis grab her soft, firm butt and help her in her movements as he was driven deeper into her. The brunette moaned in bliss as she feels her inner walls being caressed by her lover's member. Canis loved every second of having sex with the woman of his dreams, the way Barnette's breasts moved with each thrust is so intoxicating to him as he and Barnette kissed while enjoying the sound of their sweat covered forms rubbing against each other. Barnette sped up her thrusts desperate for more pleasure; she soon felt she has reached her limit. Both scream out their orgasm together. Barnette felt Canis release his seed into her filling her womb with its warmth it drove her over the edge as she came over his cock.

Canis gasped as he felt Barnette's walls milk his member and relished in the sensation of it. Once their orgasm died down Barnette laid her head on Canis' chest. Both panted as they catch their breath.

Canis commented, "You were great, Barnette. I'm really impressed. What drove you to do this with me?"

Barnette replied, "I saw Meia in her under garments through a monitor and seeing her placing Keith's head on her breasts just sparked something inside me."

The young Lynx cried, "I see. Well, we should head back to the Nirvana before they send someone out." She understood what he meant and they both put their clothes back on and directed their machine to the hanger. The NEXT defuses before the two craft land. They get out and head to their separate rooms, both won't forget their intimate experience.

A/N: Chapter 5 done. I decided to reveal that the Harvesters are not the only threat out there. I brought the Liliana insurgents into this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed the lemon between Canis and Barnette, everyone and the NEXT they create when the two craft combine.

Oh yeah, Dita, Barnette, and Meia won't become pregnant in this story because having the main female character pregnant just isn't my style in writing my stories.

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 6

Vader 23A.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Some Days

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Keith and Canis sit at a table in the cafeteria, they were basically just chatting.

Keith said, "So, you finally did it with Barnette? Well done, Canis."

Canis laughed, "Ha ha ha, I can say the same thing about you with Meia." They continue talking like this for a few more minutes after that they go their separate ways. Canis heads to Reg Central to hang with Gascogne, along the way he spotted Dita with a huge plate of rice balls running towards his destination.

When they arrive, they see Gascogne and Hibiki playing cards, and to Dita's annoyance Misty is seen commenting on how the sandwich he is currently chewing in his mouth tasted.

A tick mark appears on Dita's face and she removes the sandwich from Hibiki's mouth and slams the plate of rice balls onto the table, Hibiki gladly takes one and starts eating it, Misty glares at Dita while Canis just sweat drops.

Gascogne pressed a button on a timer they had and said, "It's your turn."

"You're right, I have to concentrate." Hibiki replied as he starts his turn.

Dita notices the timer and asked, "What's this for, Ms. Gasco?"

The Reg leader explained, "Hibiki talks about things for way too long so now he gets three minutes per turn. And by the way it's not Gasco, it's Gascogne!"

Hibiki mumbled, "She's so picky about that."

"Time's almost up, kid." Gascogne said as she smirked while raising an eyebrow.

Hibiki grunted, "I know that!" He showed his hand, "Alright! Here they are! A pair of jacks!" He forms a cocky smile.

Gascogne showed hers, "Got a full house." The young Tarak growled.

'Man, Hibiki, you suck at playing cards.' Canis thought with a double sweat drop.

Hibiki declared, "This calls for one more shot!"

His opponent wondered, "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

At the infirmary, Keith sees Barnette taking pictures of Jura holding Ezra's baby in different poses, the last one kind of disturbed him.

Jura asked, "How do I look now? Stunning?"

Barnette answered, "You look absolutely incredible, Jura! No matter which angle I take a picture from, you look like the holy mother herself!" The way Barnette was swaying her hips would make any man pass out happily with a nosebleed but Keith remained like his normal disciplined self and kept his cool. He is quite astonished that Barnette managed to fall in love with Canis while keeping it a secret from her blonde friend.

Jura added, "I know! I'm so gorgeous sometimes it's almost impossible to believe!" She laughed with a smile.

Pyoro jumped up and down while saying, "You should be more gentle when holding a baby!" This got the two women's attention.

Jura glared at the robot and growled, "Why must you be so damn annoying? Can't you butt out when I'm having a little photoshoot?" She gives Ezra's baby to him, "There! Does that make you happy?"

The white robot asked, "Can you try not to be so selfish once in a while?" He puts the infant into her crib, "There we go. Time to get some shuteye."

'Look who's being the selfish one.' Keith thought.

Jura cried, "She's so cute! I hope I can have one soon!" Barnette stares at her blonde companion with a face fault. She's starting to find this whole wanting to have a baby thing annoying.

Keith told her, "Um, Jura you do know there's a 50% chance that the baby will be a girl, don't you? Because there's also a 50% chance that it can be a boy too."

Paiway exclaimed, "She doesn't laugh at all!"

Duero explained, "She's only a few days old so she still can't see things clearly. It'll be a while before the baby shows any facial expressions, in any case I happen to find the baby interesting."

Pyoro shouted, "She's not the baby! She's Pyoro 2!"

Ezra giggled, "Silly Pyoro, her name is Serena."

Parfet asked, "So it's Serena, huh?"

The gentle bridge bunny smiled, "That's the name Keith gave her. He wanted to name my daughter after his mom. Right, Keith?" The NEXT pilot silently nods.

Pyoro shrieked, "I'm calling her Pyoro 2 and that's the end of the story!"

Keith on the other hand, grabbed the machine and threw him into a wall. Keith really hated the idea of a human baby having a machine name. The alarms go off as the Nirvana's radar picks up an enemy signature. The main screen pops up and shows it to the bridge crew.

Magno said, "That's a Harvest flagship alright."

BC theorized, "It must be one of the fleets that changed course as a result from our recent battle."

The captain narrowed her eyes, "I guess we have no choice but to get them."

Keith and Canis jump into their NEXTs and join the others as they prepare to whip the Harvesters' butt once again, Keith checks the layout of the hostile fleet and sees that they've brought only Normals and not any soul-fused NEXTs that the crew has encountered over the previous months.

Hibiki combines his Vanguard with Jura's Dread to form Vandread Jura.

Misty looked at the image and gasped, "We're going up against that?"

Magno assured her, "We've beaten them time and time again, experience has helped in building our confidence."

Pyoro added, "We'll surround them and finish them off with one shot from the main cannon!"

The Seed Ships release blocks of cube-types and Meia ordered, "All units, assume formation delta 4!"

Dita said out of the blue, "Meia, look at that!" The Dread leader looks at the blocks and to everyone's surprise the blocks combine to form an exact copy of the Nirvana.

Keith is flabbergasted at the sight. How the hell did the Harvesters become smart enough to do something like that? Keith understood that the Harvesters had the ability to make Fakedreads but now they're able to make a Nirvana doppelganger? That's a new one.

Hibiki gasped, "Wha?"

Jura cried, "You're kidding!"

Even the people on the bridge are stunned.

BC said, "What? It's the Nirvana? Impossible!"

Bart yelled, "It's a known fact that a fake is weaker than the original!" The fighters snap out of their shocked trance and resume fighting.

Vandread Jura speeds toward the enemy formation.

Jura growled, "You guys are really pissing me off! Just you wait, I'll capture every last one of them!" The crimson Vandread disperses its discs, "Commence holding!" The enemy is wrapped in a green shield.

Hibiki laughed, "How's that? Can't move at all!"

The Nirvana doppelganger proved him wrong as it fires its red beams at the discs, this in turn causes the shield to vanish.

Hibiki is completely shocked by this predicament then Vandread Jura gets hit by another round of beams, the pilots scream as their craft gets pounded by the attack Hibiki tells Jura that they need to separate if they don't want to be killed but when he sees blood on his right hand then to the injured Jura, he realizes that the situation has went from bad to worse. Vandread Jura continues to get hit by wave after wave of beam attacks.

Dita and Barnette are horrified at what they see.

"How dare you do that to Jura!" Barnette yelled as her terror turned into rage. She starts firing her Dread's guns.

Keith said, "This is not good. Everyone, fall back. Fall back!" Then he contacted Barnette, "Barnette, pull back immediately. What they're doing is completely beyond what we imagined."

Barnette fired back, "Shut up, Keith! Stay out of my way!"

Gascogne added, "There's no way you can win when you're this hot headed. You should consider this a direct order from Keith." Barnette snarled but then felt the delivery ship tow her Dread and Jura's back to the Nirvana while Savage Beast grabbed the Vanguard.

Barnette slammed her fists onto the control console of her craft. She said, "Jura." Immediately after returning to the Nirvana Jura is rushed to the infirmary where she is hooked up to machines that monitor her vital signs, she also had an oxygen mask over her mouth.

Duero said, "She's bleeding profusely. She'll manage to pull through but I'm not sure about that wound on her abdomen."

Hibiki requested, "Treat her so she won't have any scars, okay?" Hibiki had a cut on his arm while Keith had a small gash on his right temple, which is bleeding slowly.

The doctor assured, "You can count on Mejale's medical technology. Alright, it's your turn now Hibiki and Keith."

Hibiki informed, "There's nothing to really look at, I just got a few scratches that's all."

Keith informed as well, "Don't worry about me, Duero. I've always been a fast healer."

Duero is about to protest at Keith's remark but is silenced when he sees his wound heal instantly, it seems that the Pexis fragment that is stuck above Keith's left eye socket has given him regenerative powers. After the wound healed completely, he washes the dry blood off.

Duero turned his gaze to Hibiki, "I can't do that I need to have a look at your personal data so I can figure out how to treat your injury."

"Ha! Do what you want!" Hibiki scoffed as he ripped the ID card from his neck and threw it into Duero's hand. He got up and growled as he slammed his fist into a wall, "Damn it anyway! It's all because I underestimated them!"

Dita cried, "But Mr. Alien."

Hibiki looked at her and yelled, "I don't want to hear that so shut up about it!"

"You don't have to take it out on Dita. What happened to your usual good humor?" Gascogne said leaning against the doorway.

Duero attempted to access Hibiki's ID card but kept getting the 'error' message.

The Reg leader continued, "Everyone's all gloomy. There is no point in hanging around here, why don't you all go back to your posts?"

Barnette asked, "Why did you refuse the delivery? I wanted to keep fighting for Jura's sake!" Gascogne just looks at her with a serious expression on her face.

On the bridge Bart contacted Magno, "How far do we have to run away?"

Magno replied, "Until we get the chance to retaliate."

Bart urged, "All I'm asking is where are we supposed to go!"

The aged pirate snapped at him, "I'm thinking about it so shut up and stay on course! You're good at running away, aren't you?" The helmsman admitted his defeat and followed her order.

Back at the infirmary Barnette slammed her hand onto a table and demanded, "Answer me, Ms. Gasco!"

Gascogne calmly stated, "It's because you would be dying a fool's death."

Barnette shot back with a hint of fear, "But we can't win without fighting and if we don't win, we're all going to die anyway!"

The Reg leader went on, "At that point, the mission was a failure. It's the job of those behind the scenes to help those who forget how the show is supposed to run."

Barnette asked bitterly, "How can you be so cold?"

Keith threw in his two cents, "She isn't being cold, Barnette. She is speaking logic but anyone can make wrong decisions if they let their emotions get the best of them." All those years of training, experience and witnessing the horrors of war had made Keith a very knowledgeable person but even Keith has made mistakes while he was under Katrina's tutelage and some of them almost cost him his life.

Hibiki scoffed, "Yeah, it's all fine when you are sitting from a nice safe distance. The feelings of those fighting on the front line can never be understood!" The two look at Hibiki as he continued, "You always stand there with a smirk on your face, making sarcastic remarks about our failures. There's no way someone like you can understand those desperate to survive! There's no way someone like you can understand someone's pain!" The two just stare at him but their eyes reflect on a horrible, scarring past. A life changing event that will forever haunt them. The tension in the air is so intense you could cut it with a knife.

Gascogne broke the silence, "This is so pointless. What's the point in making excuses? I'll be sarcastic as I want if it means we survive, if it makes you happy, kid then go ahead and take all the chances you want after your life in this realm ends!" She walks toward the young Tarak and stared at him straight in the eyes, "But you can count me out of it! I'll clench my teeth and make sure I survive it all!"

Keith grabs Hibiki by the throat and pins him against the wall and holds him with just one hand in a vice-like grip. He gives him a facial expression that made Hibiki's blood run cold.

Keith said, "Let bygones be bygones. You and the others wouldn't last 5 minutes against Canis and I if we were your enemy. There were many times where we could've just left you and let you get harvested by Earth but we chose not to! Hibiki, Canis and I have been pilots since we were 6-year old kids and we have seen the horrors of war more times than you can imagine. The stench of death hung in the air constantly, the smell of burning buildings, the screams and cries of the innocent could be heard 24/7. I lost both of my parents when I was just a child I understand what it feels like to lose someone precious to you, as I'm sure everyone else on this ship feels the same way. The Economic War was like a nightmare that I could never wake up from and those scars will be with me forever. I am trying to heal my broken heart with Meia's help since she lost her parents when she was a child, too. What you need to realize, boy is that you can't win every battle." He releases Hibiki and left the room. Gascogne walked out as well.

Duero said, "Hibiki, let me tend to your wounds."

The young pilot replied, "Sure."

Misty looked at the hallway Keith and Gascogne walked down.

She wondered, "You think they'll be okay?"

Canis told her, "Don't worry about it, Misty. That is Keith's reaction to somebody who mocks him."

Hibiki thought otherwise, "Oh, don't worry about them! There's no way someone like them can understand peoples' suffering!" Meia walks up to him with a cold expression on her face and slaps him, making everyone in the room gasp.

Meia said, "Those two know more about pain and suffering than anybody else and bear emotional scars that none of us can imagine."

Gascogne looks at a box in her room then takes the stick she usually has in her mouth and squeezes it, turning the stick into a key. She opens the box inside were some jewelry and picture of her as a child with someone else.

Gascogne's flashback

_A young Gascogne runs with her sister down an alleyway on Mejale. _

_Brianna said, "This is our little secret, okay? Watch this!" She squeezes the stick and it morphs into a key. Gascogne is impressed by the sight years later and Gascogne and her sister are both young adults however, their relationship has changed dramatically over the years._

_Brianna scolded, "Ms. Rheigau, your lack of anger and concentration is unacceptable! You need to focus!"_

_Her younger sister replied, "I'm sorry, sister."_

_Brianna added, "Ms. Rheigau, when on duty our relationship should only be that between commander and soldier! Is that understood?"_

_Gascogne ten hutted, "Yes." One day an incident occurred and authorities were currently ordering the citizens to evacuate suddenly the space colony is rocked by an explosion._

_One soldier informed, "Commander, the protesters have accidentally breached the outer hall!" The powerful vacuum effect of space begins sucking anyone inside the room out into space. A little girl is about to get sucked out as well but Brianna grabs her and hands her to Gascogne. The blast doors close, separating the two. Gascogne pounds on the door and a few minutes later it is quiet._

_Gascogne screamed, "Sister? Sister! Sister!" 'It was only a few centimeters away. If only I were calmer. If only I were more collected.' She thought. _

_This was around the time Magno found her._

End of Gascogne's flashback

Keith's flashback

_Keith and Katrina just got done saving a populated city from Liliana terrorists but they defied their client's orders. Keith looks at the devastation their battle caused. Then he felt Red Angel placing a hand on Black Dragon's shoulder. _

_Katrina came up on the screen, "Cheer up, Keith. We saved a lot of innocent lives, you should be proud."_

_Keith replied, "But Katrina, we shouldn't be slaves to the League! I want to create a future for both of us. We defied our client's orders and it cost us the lives of our squad members because of our brash actions. I believe we are in for one hell of a lecture." When they got back to Collared and received a lecture from their operator Serene Haze, Keith goes into his and Katrina's assigned room and sits on his bed, running his hands through his black hair. A bit later Katrina comes in and sits by Keith, she embraces him in a hug._

_She said, "It's okay, Keith."_

_Keith replied, "I don't know how much more of this war I can take."_

_Katrina made him look at her face, "Keith, I told you before that you and I share a powerful bond. I care deeply about you, Keith." She presses her lips against his as he held Katrina close._

End of Keith's flashback

Meia cried, "They have witnessed things far beyond our understanding and while we may make a fuss about it, it was a path that they went down a long, long time ago."

Hibiki said, "Alright, I guess I'll go and apologize to them." Just then Meia's communicator beeps.

She answered it, "This is Meia."

BC informed, "The enemy has surrounded us."

Meia replied, "I have all the pilots here. We're heading out."

Hibiki exclaimed, "Hold on. I happened to come up with a plan about that." The pilots take off as Hibiki told them, "Since I heard that little story. I realized that attacking the interior should be effective, too. So we are going to destroy the flagship from the inside." Hibiki combines with Meia to form Vandread Meia.

The Dread leader asked, "I understand the plan but do you think we can take them on with just our power?"

The young Tarak told her, "If we got a problem, then wait to discuss about it later!" Meia smiled at his remark. It seems Hibiki has grown some backbone.

The Vandread plows through three Seed Ships but before they can attack the flagship, the red Nirvana appears and transforms into a hideous giant robot. It fires its chest beams and Meia pulls a hard right turn to avoid the incoming fire, Hibiki groans from the sheer force of the turn. The other pilots evade as well.

Dita hears Keith scream so she asked, "Keith, are you okay?"

Keith answered, "I'm fine. That beam attack just scratched the shin armor of my NEXT. Nothing to be worried about."

The evil red Nirvana grabs Barnette's Dread and starts crushing it in one of its giant hands, the brunette attempts to shoot herself free but the beams bounce off of a cyan colored shield.

'What? That thing has Primal Armor?' Canis thought.

The canopy of Barnette's Dread starts to crack and all of a sudden the craft is set free. Barnette turns her head to see the delivery ship fire its missiles at the target.

Gascogne chuckled, "Was that a little too much for someone who works behind the scenes?" She spots the enemy robot drive its razor-sharp right hand into the delivery ship however the Reg leader continues her offensive even though Fakedread Jura plows into her ship. The pilots look on horrified as they see the delivery ship crash the Nirvana doppelganger and itself into the flagship and explode in a massive fireball.

Hibiki, Dita and Meia are shocked at what just happened.

Barnette gasped, "Ms. Gasco. Ms. Gasco!"

To be continued...

A/N: Okay, chapter 6 done. Hm, it seems the tide of battle has turned for the worse.

The Nirvana crew will retaliate in the next chapter.

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 7.

Vader 23A.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Retaliation

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage.

The Nirvana fighters watch in horror as the delivery ship is destroyed in a massive fireball.

Keith said, "This can't be happening!" He desperately tries to refuse accepting at what happened.

On the ship's bridge BC snaps out of her state of shock.

She ordered, "Ezra!"

Ezra nodded, "Right. Ms. Gasco, please come in! Ms. Gasco!" Back on the battlefield, the red Nirvana comes out of the flagship and Hibiki snapped!

He yelled, "I'll get you!" He defuses Vandread Meia and the enraged Hibiki rushes toward the enemy fleet, his vision filled with red. Suddenly Barnette's Dread comes in front of him and blocks his path.

She ordered, "Everyone, pull back!"

Hibiki fired back, "Stay out of my way!"

"There is no way we'll win if we are impulsive!" She said as she discards her craft's wings.

Hibiki replied, "That's not for you to decide!" A vision of Gascogne quickly flashes through both of their minds.

Keith and the other pilots fall back. The Nirvana turns around and heads to who knows where while it threw Bart out of the virtual helm. He landed on his butt completely surprised by what just happened.

He wondered, "What the?"

Belvedere asked, "Why did you come out?"

Bart answered, "I don't know, it changed course on its own! And I burnt my hand." Ezra repeatedly attempts to contact the delivery ship until Magno tells her to stop, seeing that it's useless.

The Nirvana and its fighters head for safety inside a nebula. The fighters shoot down any pursuing cube-types before returning to the ship. The Harvesters halt their advance and patiently wait for the crew to come out of their hiding place.

Meia contacted the captain, "We've completed docking all the Dreads, captain."

Mago told her, "Good work."

The Dread leader offered, "Please accept my apology for what happened to Ms. Gascogne."

The pirate leader said, "That's enough, Meia."

Meia protested, "But captain!"

Magno snapped at her, "Let it go! Just remain on standby for now!" Meia knew better than to question Magno's authority.

She sighed, "Understood." After ending the transmission she slammed her fist, "Damn it! I thought I've become strong enough to not let myself be fazed by anything." She struggled not to cry until she felt Keith place a hand on her shoulder; Meia looks up and sees him with a sympathetic look on his face.

He said, "It's okay, Meia. Go ahead and cry shedding tears for those we care about is nothing to ashamed about. You don't have to keep it bottled up inside, you know." Seeing no deception in his words, Meia got out of her Dread and stepped onto the floor then burst into tears, laying her head on Keith's shoulder while she held the back of his dark blue g-suit tightly in her hands.

Keith wrapped his arms around her back and used one hand to gently pat her back. Meia's tears form small puddles on the hanger floor. She knew Keith could tell how someone is feeling just by judging their facial expressions, no matter what excuse they thought up he always saw through that deception and she was no exception.

Everyone else is feeling the same way. All they can do is cry.

BC said, "Just as I feared. What happened to Gascogne is having a major effect on the crew! Especially dealing with the loss of someone so close to them."

Magno cried, "However, what Gascogne left behind is just as big. She left a gaping hole in their flagship and that means we still have a way out of this!" In the infirmary Barnette clenched her fists in her lap.

She said, "I didn't get the chance to apologize to her!" She regrets her missed opportunity then she felt Jura wipe a tear from her eye.

Jura informed, "The Barnette that I know is much stronger than that." She rubbed her cheek. This cheered Barnette up a little and the blonde smiled, "See? You look better now." Barnette took Jura's hand and held it. Though she wanted Canis to be here with her, she understood that Canis wants Barnette to spend time with her blonde friend alone. She respected him for that.

Sometimes this war against their home planet bring back haunting memories of the Economic War in Keith and Canis, they starred death in the face and survived the hellish ordeal.

Hibiki enters the dark, empty Reg Central room and walks up to the table where he and Gascogne played cards. Then he spots Dita holding a puppet.

She waved it, "Smile! Smile!" She exposes her face.

Hibiki asked, "What are you doing?" Seeing the redhead smile just made him snap, "How can you be smiling at a time like this?"

Dita answered, "It's because I don't know how I should be feeling right now. When I was little, when the living unit I was in closed down, everyone had sad faces just like now. Whenever I messed up or said something silly, everyone laughed. So now I don't want anyone feel depressed!" Barnette enters the room and she lowered her head.

She asked, "Why? Tell me why, Hibiki. Why didn't you save Ms. Gasco?"

The young Tarak wondered, "What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

Barnette spoke louder, "You should've payed more attention to those around you."

Hibiki exclaimed, "Are you saying this is my fault?"

Barnette accused, "You're always bragging about stuff but when it comes down to it, you are completely useless!" Dita tells them to stop when she knocked over the timer. Hibiki stares at it.

Gascogne said in his mind, "Hey, it's your turn. Show me your hand!"

Hibiki clenched his fist, "Okay, I'll show you. Get everyone down here right now! It's time for a tactical meeting!" A short time later BC enters the room.

She asked, "Why did you call this meeting?"

The Vanguard pilot informed, "I know a way to shut down their flagship."

BC raised an eyebrow, "How?"

Misty showed her the answer, "With this!"

The commander gasped, "That's the capsule from Pluto!"

Misty nodded with a grin, "It's the virus that eats the Pexis. We can beat them with this."

Hibiki turned to her, "Is it ready?"

The aqua marine-haired teen replied, "Yeah! All we need to do is have him eat it." She pointed at Pyoro.

The machine went wide-eyed, "I wasn't informed of this! I don't want to be seperated from Pyoro 2!"

Ezra removed her baby from him and corrected, "Her name is Serena!"

Meia informed, "But in order to upload the virus, we'll have to break through the enemy's line of defense. How do you propose we do that?"

That's when Keith joined in, "The enemy is a machine so I've been helping Parfet build a weapon that will emit a powerful electromagnetic pulse to sever the link. However, the EMP will only be effective for a few minutes at most. Barnette, your Dread will be mounting this weapon."

Hibiki smirked, "Alright! Let's hit them hard!"

The pilots shouted, "Yeah!" They commence the operation.

Pyoro whined, "Pyoro 2!"

Hibiki shouted, "Would you shut the hell up? You're really annoying!" Dita approaches Hibiki's Vanguard but the Tarak teen told her he doesn't have time to deal with her and combines with Meia to create Vandread Meia. They speed through the enemy formation, Barnette orders the other pilots to cover the infiltration team while she herself waited for the right moment to fire the EMP weapon.

'Not yet! Now!' She thought.

She presses the button and fires the weapon two spheres of energy come out of the barrels and then detonate, emitting the electromagnetic pulse and disabled the cube-types long enough for the infiltration team and herself to enter the flagship. As they near the core of the ship, Barnette's Dread gets hit and lingers behind eventually they reach their target area and Hibiki next combines with Dita's craft to form Vandread Dita.

Pyoro heads to the mainframe where he can upload the virus. Vandread Dita begins to recieve punishment from enemy fire the red Nirvana comes in and attempts to shoot down the Vandread but Meia distracts it. She directs its attention towards her and it fires its chest beam but Meia avoids it what she didn't expect was that a cube-type approached her and prepared to fire at point-blank range. Suddenly an emerald colored beam destroys the enemy. Barnette turns her head to see a familiar crimson Dread and black NEXT.

Barnette gasped, "Jura! Keith!"

Jura urged, "Don't just sit there! Hurry up and finish the job!"

Duero told her, "Don't push yourself. Your painkillers will be wearing off soon."

The blonde replied, "I'm well aware of that. That is why I'm telling them to hurry up!" Vandread Dita fires the shoulder-mounted laser cannons at the vein-like branch that the red Nirvana is using to stand on, the branch snaps in two and the evil doppelganger tumbles. The virus is launched and spreads throughout the enemy fleet. Before the infiltration can leave the persistant red Nirvana fires a concentrated beam attack and hits the team's craft. Vandread Dita shoves Barnette's Dread out of the way before it, along with Black Dragon and the other Dreads get hit.

When Barnette looked at the sight it was absolute carnage. The units are badly damaged and their pilots are hurt.

Meia ordered, "Barnette, it's not safe here. Just go!"

Jura added, "That bothersome Pyoro is getting in the way."

Barnette refused, "I can't! I can't leave anyone behind!"

Dita assured, "It's alright because we won't lose! I don't want anyone to have sad faces again!"

Seeing that the enemy is about to fire a second round Keith shouted, "Get out now!" Then the beam hits and the machines are supposedly destroyed. Barnette looks at the fireball and immediately went wide-eyed as she witnessed the damaged the units fuse to form another Vandread.

This unit dubbed Super Vandread, is humanoid in shape, has the physical appearance of Vandread Dita and Meia and the equipment of Vandread Jura and Black Dragon. Its armor is a mixture of shinny silver with blue trimmed with black here and there. Its fingers and visible joints are a glowing aqua-green.

On the bridge BC and Magno are stunned.

Inside the cockpit Hibiki, Dita, Jura, Meia and Keith observe the transformation. Dita sits on Hibiki's lap, Meia sat in a seat behind the main one, Keith was in one next to her and Jura sat in a seat up front facing the controls.

Jura asked, "What...is this? I'm suppose to operate all of this by myself?" The enemy stares down at them with glowing eyes filled with destructive intent.

Hibiki shouted, "Hey! Stop moaning and do something!"

The blonde informed, "In case you have forgotten, I'm injured!" She slammed her slender hands onto the controls, this made Super Vandread form a shield to deflect the third beam attack and then it pulls a sword out of its hand. It speeds toward the red Nirvana and slices it diagonally in two. The bridge crew watched in awe.

Magno chuckled, "Amazing little children." The fighters return to the ship and Super Vandread defuses.

Keith swiftly gets out of his NEXT and notices that Black Dragon has undergone another metamorphoses.

On its back were newly fledged metal wings that can now form violet colored dragon wings when opened, its back weapons retained their positions, spikes were poking out vertically from the shoulders of the ARGYROS/A arms with another pair of spikes sticking out of the back of the forearms, the black armor is reinforced even more allowing Black Dragon to withstand even more punishment and keep going, and finally Black Dragon is equipped with highly destructive rail guns mounted on the hips, the 07-Moonlight beam saber hung just above the left rail gun. Keith whistled at the sight of this.

In the engine room Meia and Jura look at the Pexis.

"Back there it wasn't the Pexis lending us a helping hand in the fight against evil." Meia said as she recalled the event that just occurred.

Jura replied, "But it was the Pexis that allowed the Dreads, Vanguard and Keith's NEXT to fuse together."

Meia elaborated, "It's because we had the same thought. We were optimistic and wanted to make it through the end no matter what. That is why it happened."

On the the Nirvana's bridge BC cried, "Captain, the crew is requesting a ceremonial service for Gascogne."

Magno sighed, "Alright, BC. I leave the details to you, call me when the service is ready." The aged pirate leaves the bridge after giving BC her orders. Misty watches her leave.

She said, "I feel sorry for the captain."

Ezra explained, "It's not a surprise. You see Gascogne has been the captain's partner ever since she became a pirate."

Amarone added her own, "While she was like a big sister to us, she was more like a daughter to our captain."

In her quarters, Magno places a picture of Gascogne along side the pictures of other deceased crewmembers then she heard her door panel beep.

She said, "Come in." The door opens to reveal Barnette holding the timer in her hands.

At Reg Central, Hibiki flipped over the cards of his next hand. It's comprised of four aces and a joker.

The pilot mumbled, "Good hand, huh?" Barnette decides to take Gascogne's place as the person in charge of Reg Central.

She now wore a yellow tank top, white vest, black shorts and ankle-high boots. She removes her crown jewel.

Keith sends his own warning to his home world. In the message was a dark sky with lightning flashing in the clouds.

Keith had demonic wings sticking out of his back and holding a flaming sword in his left hand and his eyes are blood red with slit pupils. This made him look more demonic than human. His eyes are filled with bloodlust!

Keith exclaimed, "Planet Earth, welcome to your demise! We are going to beat your ass like never before. The crew and I are going to condemn you to eternal damnation! And we will leave your unmanned automated fleet in a charred, broken, smoking heap in the cold emptiness of space! I will soon open the gates of Hell and unleash the most deadly of demons upon you! You see, corrupted inhabitants of Earth, you think this harvesting operation is for your self-preservation at expense of others? You obviously have no idea that nothing lasts forever, not even you! Planet Earth, I felt your wrath long enough. Now you're gonna feel mine! You will know my name as the Demon of Hell! It's too late to atone for your sins, all you can do now is burn in hell!" Lightning flashes behind him accompanied by loud thunder, lighting up the background and allowing his appearance become more visible. After that lightning flash the scenery turns completely black leaving only Keith's blood red eyes glowing in the darkness. This bone-chilling message from Keith caused the Earth Council to tremble in fright. They now know what they're up against.

A/N: Chapter 7 done. Well everyone, I'm back from my trip of Las Vegas earlier than I thought.

Now in regard of this chapter, I made slight additions to Super Vandread's appearance. I added Black Dragon's armor color and its ranged weaponry, other than that Super Vandread still retains its capabilities as seen in the anime.

Well, as a bonus I decided to have Black Dragon undergo an upgrade.

Read and review, everyone.

Stick around for chapter 8.

Vader 23A.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Understanding Relationships

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

An alarm blares throughout the Nirvana. A water pipe breaks open flooding the men's quarters, Paiway rows her way through the room in a rubber raft while taking pictures.

Hibiki said, "Little brat!" Bart's pillow falls into the water and he falls in, too during his attempt to retrieve it.

Paiway chuckled, "He he, look it's a fishy!" Then she spots Duero reading a book.

He said, "Well, it's not wise for someone to chill the lower half of their bodies." A column of water pours onto Duero's head and Paiway laughs before she too gets drenched.

Misty enters the room that the three men are using. Hibiki and Bart are covered with warm towels while Duero seems fine. Misty offers a blanket to Hibiki but the young Tarak refuses and leaves.

During the course of the day, Dita and Misty fight over Hibiki but Misty clearly had more experience about the relationship between men and women, something that the others are clueless about. Except for Keith and Canis, of course. At one point Dita offered an alien doll to Hibiki, which Misty smacks it out of the redhead's hand (pretty cruel if you ask me). Dita breaks into tears and heads for her room, once inside she cries.

Jura and Amarone heard Misty say 'boyfriend' and they wondered what that meant.

Canis said, "You can say that boyfriend is a love term for a woman who cares a lot about her male companion, ladies." After giving them a brief explanation Canis heads for Dita's room to see if he can cheer her up.

Keith on the other hand is busy searching through boxes in the storage room hoping he can find stuff that will help strengthen Hibiki and Dita's growing relationship. Ultimately he comes across a specific box. It was labeled 'Understanding the human body.' He opens it and coughs from the accumulated dust before fanning himself. Once the dust cleared he looks inside the box and sees books and videotapes that are surprisingly in perfect condition, he just hit the jackpot.

'Perfect! This is just what I was looking for! This will be useful in having Dita and Hibiki understand what the relationship between men and women is like and help them grow closer to each other. Plus a few other things.' He thought with a grin.

Canis approaches Dita's door and pressed the buzzer hoping he can get a response but there is no answer. He walks into the dark room and spots the redhead on her bed.

So he walks over to her and asked, "You okay, Dita?"

She looked up and sees the NEXT pilot, "Oh hi, Canis. What can I do to make Mr. Alien happy?"

Canis placed his hands on her shoulders, "Listen Dita, there will be obstacles in a relationship. Most of the time overcoming these obstacles helps strengthen the bond between two lovers. I understand what you're going through but you can't allow yourself to crack under the pressure. Keith and I will help you and Hibiki with this problem when the Harvesters are not attacking us. Well, I'm going to see what my friend is up to. Think about what I said Dita, okay?" He leaves Dita's room and searches for Keith and in no time he sees him carrying a box.

Keith greeted his friend, "Hi, Canis. What's up?"

The pilot of Savage Beast replied, "I was looking for you. What's that you are carrying?"

The black-haired American told him, "Oh, it's a box filled with books and videotapes about the human body. This will help Hibiki and Dita understand their growing bond even though they don't know about it. I'm also hoping that Hibiki will finally go pay a visit to Dita's room. He needs to get over this whole fear of women wanting to eat your guts. That Tarak propaganda is complete garbage! Why don't you come with me to my room and I will show you what I'm talking about." Seeing no harm in this, Canis follows.

After entering Keith's room, Keith puts one of the videos in the player and presses the play button. After watching the video, Canis realizes what his friend is talking about.

Canis nodded, "I see. You want to show Hibiki and Dita the pleasurable experience of making love to each other, huh?"

Keith answered, "You got it, a bit later on we'll show them a separate tape and a few books. I'll handle Dita, you can take care of Hibiki." They high-five each other as they prepare to set their plan into action.

Hibiki enters the partially flooded men's quarters to see Duero helping Parfet in fixing the leaking water pipe.

Hibiki wondered, "Hey, are the repairs done yet?"

Duero replied, "Not yet and if you want the repairs to be completed faster, then how about helping us out?"

The Vanguard pilot scoffed, "Sorry but plumbing is not my expertise!" He spots Meia leaning against the wall.

She said, "You do know that once you return here, things won't get better you know."

Hibiki asked, "What are you trying to say?"

The Dread leader answered, "We were raised to believe that men were our sworn enemy but I see this little society that is starting to form here and how women and men are able to work together. I'm also beginning to see the relationship that is starting to develop between you and Dita. It's better for you to confront this issue with her. Trust me, it's for the best." She leaves after that.

Hibiki chuckled, "She's starting to talk more and more now. I wonder if that has to do with Keith's presence." Dita walks out of her room and Jura spots her.

She said sternly, "Dita, head to the briefing room. We're going to discuss a new Dread formation!" The blonde turns around and leaves.

When Dita enters the room, she sees only Hibiki in there.

Jura appeared on a screen and informed them, "I did this so you two could talk to each other and until you do, the door remains locked. Also stop with all this silliness already, you're making me look old here!" The monitor closes. The two remain silent, much to Jura's increasing irritation, "This is maddening! Are you two going to stay like that forever?" She appeared on the monitor again, "Hurry up and start talking!"

Hibiki yelled back, "Shut up! Man, you're so annoying!" Dita tries to say something but loses her words and Jura growled again.

Misty said, "Oh, so this is what it's all about. Here we have 150 people rallied up on one girl. The pirates of Mejale sure do value friendship, don't they?"

Jura warned, "This is a good moment here so don't even think about getting in the way!"

Misty crossed her arms, "Relax. I'm not going to make enemies of the entire ship. That would be suicidal. Anyway the only reason why I messed around with that boy is because I had nothing else to do." She walks out and Meia follows her to the garden. Sitting on a bench, Misty breaks into tears.

Meia called out, "Misty!"

The aqua marine-haired asked, "What do you want? If it's a lecture, I am not in the mood to hear it!"

Meia smiled, "You don't have to act so tough. After all we're all allies in the fight against the harvest, right?" Misty cries in Meia's chest while the Dread leader hugged her and lets her cry.

Back with Dita and Hibiki, both of them were struggling to find words.

Dita said, "Um, Mr. Alien. The water pipes, I hope they get repaired soon."

Hibiki nervously replied, "Uh, yeah."

Jura cried, "Is he capable of saying anything more caring than that? What's with this 'yeah' stuff?"

Amarone pointed out, "Hey, wait a minute! Look at that!" They see Hibiki turning to face Dita.

The young Tarak said out of curiosity, "Hey, what do you think of those two NEXT pilots Keith and Canis?"

Dita replied, "They're nice, friendly and pretty skilled pilots. To be honest they are scary sometimes just by the way they fight an enemy!" Hibiki tries to think up of something else but couldn't find his words as he started to blush and Dita was blushing as well. Their faces are drawing closer and before their lips met, an alarm goes off snapping them back to reality the observers moaned as they didn't get the chance to see what'd happen next.

Barnette clapped her hands to get the other Reg girls' attention, "Okay, show's over. Let's get to work, people. We've got delivery orders to carry out."

Amarone hopped into her control console and said, "Oh, no. I'm detecting enemy signatures! 5 Seed Ships, 2 Spirit of Motherwill Arms Forts and 1 Answerer Arms Fort!" Meia notices the alarm.

She said to Misty, "I can't stay here, they are enemies to take care of."

Misty looked at her with sparkling eyes, "Do your best, dear sister."

Meia blinked, "Hm? Uh, sure." The pilots take off and confront the enemy fleet.

Hibiki and Dita combine their machines to form Vandread Dita.

Realizing that Barnette isn't flying her Dread anymore Keith and Canis can't combine their Armored Cores with it to create Avenger or Black Demon so they watch each other's backs.

Keith targets 3 of the 5 Seed Ships with his WADOU grenade rifle, however its targeting system is messed up so he switches to the OGOTO grenade cannon and fires a round that destroys two of his targets before the Seed Ships could react, the third launches its payload of cube-types but Black Dragon eradicates them and the two remaining Seed Ships. Next, he turns his attention toward the 2 Spirit of Motherwill Arms Forts, he took care of the first with no problem but the second proves to be a tough opponent. Keith fires another round of the grenade cannon, the shell explodes but there isn't any gaping hole.

Keith gasped, "What? No damage? That AF has beefed up armor! This is going to be tough. I guess now is the time to test out the modified AMS." He presses the button and activates the Allegory Manipulation System and to his surprise he didn't feel any headaches forming so what Parfet said is true. This updated version forms no mental stress so he mentally thanks Parfet for this blessing. Black Dragon dodges a barrage of the enemy Arms Fort's large cannons with incredible ease then pulls out the 07-Moonlight and fires up the main boosters. The black NEXT cuts off one of the runway-like decks and missile launchers on it.

Keith and Canis do a coordinated attack and fly past one another from both sides at full speed and slice Spirit of Motherwill in half. The behemoth's generator overloads and blows the halved AF to bits.

Meia leads the Dreads on an attack run on the Answerer Arms Fort. The superweapon fires its Kojima arsenal and forces them to pull away. Keith spots the Answerer charging up its secret weapon.

He yelled, "Evade! That Arms Fort is going to unleash its Assault Armor!" The Dread pilots avoid just in time before the Assault Armor is released. The intense light blinds them long enough for the AF to fire a Kojima missile at Meia.

Black Dragon arrives in time and readies its rail guns. Red beams of energy come out and destroyed the incoming projectile. Keith raises the power output of the weapons to maximum and fires again. The intensified beams vaporize half of the support fins on the Answerer and some of the Kojima missile launchers the Dreads retaliate with missiles that leave a 40-foot gaping hole near the core. Savage Beast delivers the killing blow with its LR04-AVIOR laser rifle and the beam strikes a critical circuit, this sets off a series of huge explosions in the Answerer's interior.

Black Dragon's radar picks up enemy reinforcements. The black NEXT fires all of its ranged weapons simultaneously needless to say the approaching Normals didn't have time to react before a rain of death falls over them. Black Dragon's weapons smoke after firing then return to standby mode. The 07-Moonlight is placed back into its holder and the fighters return to the Nirvana racking up another victory.

Immediately after climbing out of their NEXTs and changing into normal clothes Keith and Canis put their plan into action. Keith asks Dita to follow him into his room and Canis handles Hibiki.

After sitting on his bed Dita asked, "So Keith, why did you bring me here?"

Keith replied, "You see Dita, I have been watching how you and Hibiki interact and I have to say this developing relationship between you two is heading in the right direction. I understand that you're having some trouble getting Hibiki to come visit your room well, Canis and I can help solve that. Now listen Dita, what you're about to see has to be kept secret, which means you can't tell anyone else about this. This will be something between you, me, Canis and Hibiki. Understood?" The redhead nodded.

In Canis' room, the young Lynx prepares to lecture Hibiki about the human body.

Canis said, "Okay, Hibiki listen up, I know you made a promise to visit Dita's room sometime during this journey and so far you haven't fulfilled that promise."

Hibiki answered, "Well, I don't want to break it but I don't know what I should say."

Canis raised an eyebrow, "What? You think Dita is going to devour your guts, is that it?"

The young Tarak struggled, "Well..." Before he can finish his sentence Canis bunked Hibiki's head.

He spoke in a serious tone, "Look, kid it's time you grow a spine and toss away all of that Tarak propaganda of women being monsters. All of that is a bunch of garbage! What you are about to see will help convince you that women aren't like what they appear to be in those propaganda films." Hibiki felt a bead of sweat run down his face from Canis' voice. The 17-year old puts a video into the player.

Keith does the same thing.

After a while the video stops and Keith removes it from the player and tells Dita to read a few books. Additional 2 minutes pass by and Keith puts the books back onto his desk. When he turned around, he notices that Dita's face is as red as her hair and Keith can understand why she was reacting this way.

Dita asked in surprise, "So...is this what men and women do when they are in a room together?"

Keith answered truthfully, "Some do. Others just go in there to chat about stuff that other people don't need to know about or just want some personal time. But a few who are couples do this you can say this how they express love to each other. The rest of the time they wait until they believe they are ready for that next step. Tell me the truth, Dita do you love Hibiki?"

Dita nodded, "Yes, I do love Mr. Alien very much! I want to show how much I care about him. Do you have any tips?"

The NEXT pilot smiled, "Well, for starters show him some of your stuff inside your room to help him relax and when you think the time is right and he is relaxed enough, you can make your move. If he's ready he will make love to you and if he's not, just wait until another time. Does that help?" The redhead gets up and hugs him and thanks him for this. Keith tells Dita that he is glad to help.

With Canis he puts the video back into its casing and the books away and looks at Hibiki to see him stunned by what he saw and read.

Canis asked, "Well, what do you think?"

Hibiki regained his voice, "So are all women's breasts the same?"

Canis is really tempted to burst out in laughter but he restrains the urge to do so.

He replied, "No. Some are bigger and fuller and some are smaller and flatter. It pretty much depends on the woman's genes or something like that. This is how men and women use to have children. Well, the other crew members aren't aware of this but Barnette and I did this a week ago. We had sex for the first time and it felt incredible! It really can be pleasurable if you do it right, Hibiki. Meia and Keith did it as well." Hibiki is speechless by what Canis said, both leaders of the Dreads made love to each other? All of this is completely new to him.

The Lynx went on, "Now look, it's time you fulfilled the promise you made to Dita. You will visit her room and relax. She'll most likely show some of her UFO collection, this is one way to knowing her better." Hibiki gulps nervously and nodded. There's no way he will able to talk his way out of this one.

The two NEXT pilots meet up in the cafeteria and discuss about their mission.

Keith asked, "Well, Canis how did it go with Hibiki?"

Canis replied, "It went well though he was hesitant at first I had to improvise him but he watched that video and read those books with no complaining."

Keith nodded, "Dita watched her video and read those books without hesitation, it seems she is determined to go through this. I say this is mission accomplished, now all we have to do is wait and see if our advice will work."

A/N: Chapter 8 done. I decided to have Keith and Canis take on a more teacher-like role in this chapter.

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 9.

Vader 23A.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Surprises

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Another day comes along and Keith walks toward the cafeteria after waking up from a well-earned sleep, not to mention having a pleasant dream about Meia. When he enters the cafeteria he sees Dita and some of the other girls doing something, he was planning on asking them but when he sees Dita spot Meia the group freaked out. Keith sweat dropped at this wondering what they're getting so worked up about. He puts it aside for now and concentrates on getting some breakfast.

As he sits at an empty table Meia gets a cup of coffee while Barnette walked in and said, "Hey, Bell if you want something in the cake tell me now otherwise I'll...hm?" She notices them giving her odd looks and she raised an eyebrow then turned her head to see why, "Meia! Oh, you're here? Ha ha, nothing like a little exercise on the arms, huh?" The brunette heads back into the kitchen while Keith and Meia just shook their heads.

The Dread leader sits where Keith is. A few minutes later Misty stands next to them dumbfounded at what just happened.

Misty asked, "What's up with them? They're acting weird."

Meia answered, "Tomorrow happens to be my birthday."

Misty wondered, "You think it could be a surprise party? You don't seem too thrilled about it."

The Dread leader added, "Birthday parties don't interest me. They're nothing but a nuisance."

'Jesus, Meia you're way too intense.' Keith thought.

Noticing Misty giggling, Meia asked, "What?"

Misty confessed, "You look so cool with that expression." Meia blinked a few times before taking a sip of her coffee.

The aqua marine-haired teen went on, "You look so neat when you're troubled like that."

Keith told her, "Misty, shut up! Man, sometimes you're just as obnoxious as a rookie Lynx is." Meia couldn't agree more. Then Keith looked at her lover, "But seriously, Meia you need to loosen up! All this tension will give you a headache."

Hibiki decides to help out with Dita and Paiway a bit later Duero lends a hand. The crew blocked any escape route and made up excuses, like Parfet saying that Meia's Dread had engine problems, Jura said that a tactical meeting is going on well without her.

When Meia was out of sight Jura pulled out her communicator, "I have no interest in doing this again, Dita!"

"Okay. Thanks for your help, Jura!" Dita replied through the medical room's computer.

Hibiki asked them, "Okay, where next?"

Dita said, "Maybe to see the captain or the commander!"

Paiway said through her puppet frog, "That's not good. Ribbit."

Duero cried, "Well, if that's the case then we'll have to decide Meia's actions for her."

Dita asked, "So what do we do now?"

They hear Pyoro saying, "Pyoro 2 is so cute! Yes you are!" The three open the curtain and look at the pair. An evil smile form on their faces as they came up with the perfect idea.

Pyoro gained a panicked look, "I don't like that look they're giving me!" They contact Ezra on the bridge and informed her of their plan.

She said, "What? Have Meia baby sit Serena?"

Dita explained, "That's right. It's only for giving us the time to ready the surprise party."

Ezra agreed, "I have no problem with that but what does Pyoro say about it?"

The redhead gave a sympathetic smile, "Oh don't worry, we already talked about it with Pyoro and it's okay." Pyoro argued about that but Hibiki and Paiway try to keep him quiet.

Ezra went on, "It's true that Pyoro's the only one who watches her and he may not like it but alright, I'll ask Meia to do it." She ends the transmission. BC overheard the entire conversation and walked over to her.

BC asked, "Ezra. Sorry if I'm being straight forward but hasn't Pyoro been taking care of the baby lately?"

Ezra smiled, "I guess you can say it's become sort of a habit."

The sub-captain furthered, "I'm not accusing you of anything but don't you like the way things are?"

The brunette sighed, "Well, the truth is that sometimes I don't how to handle her."

Meia exits the elevator and hears Dita mumbling about something, Hibiki and Paiway accompany her.

Paiway wondered, "Oh Meia, where are you going?"

Meia replied, "I'm going to talk to Keith." Hibiki and Paiway look at each other and nod before Paiway elbows Dita slightly to tell her it's time to set their plan in action.

The redhead moaned, "Oh, it's terrible Meia! We don't know what to do!"

Paiway added, "Yes but now that you're here, everything's great."

Meia asked suspiciously, "Hang on. What's this about?"

Hibiki said, "Come on out!" A gloomy Pyoro comes forth with Serena in hand, Dita hands the baby to Meia.

The Dread leader gasped, "What the?" Pyoro was about to retrieve the kid but Hibiki and Paiway hold him back.

Dita smiled, "You see, we couldn't find anyone to take care of Serena! But this is great now everyone can get back to work!"

Meia's eyebrow twitched before she fired back, "Hold on there a lot more people on board better at this than me!"

"Oh, I see. Someone who's constantly saying she can do absolutely anything whimpering at the thought of caring for a baby!" Hibiki teased while slightly swinging a bag full of baby stuff back and forth. By baby stuff, that means a bottle, fresh diapers, all of those basic requirements for a baby.

Serena starts crying and Meia looked at her before looking at the retreating others, she can hear Hibiki telling Pyoro to quit bitching and moaning.

Meia frowned, "I can't believe how well they've set me up."

Keith just got done brushing his teeth after eating breakfast, taking care of those pearly whites is very important for anyone. Having rotten teeth and bad breath is not something most people would want (including me). He looks at his nightstand and picks up a small frame holding a picture of him and Canis holding the Arena Tag Team Championship belts after winning them. Both were smiling as Katrina took the picture. Keith and Canis were still in their early teens when they won the titles. Keith chuckled as he remembered that day when he and Canis became like brothers. He put that picture down and picked up the next one. This one had a picture of him and Katrina standing by a flower field with their NEXTs, Black Dragon and Red Angel behind them. The machines were like walking symbols. The original Red Angel reflected the flourishing and preservation of life, and Black Dragon signified death and destruction and the creation of new life. He held this picture close to remember his mentor. For 10 years, Katrina was Keith's nirvana. Everything about her brought joy and serenity to Keith's mind and heart. Her bright smile, her compassion, her beauty and her eyes. Her pretty violet eyes were so alluring that sometimes Keith felt he was put into a trance, her eyes were that mesmerizing because they reflected innocence.

In Meia's room, the Dread leader stares at the sleeping Serena before gazing at her box with a picture of her and her parents. Suddenly Serena began crying again and Meia wondered what she can do to make the infant stop crying. While she was wandering the halls, the Harvesters attack. Meia and the baby fall into an escape pod and Meia's shoulder hits the control panel this in turn caused the pod to be jettisoned from the Nirvana.

Keith and Canis immediately put on their g-suits, helmets, black boots and gloves and then hopped into their NEXTs before powering them up. They take off and join the others in battle the Harvesters brought a new vessel that kind of resembled a shark on the Nirvana's bridge Celtic informed that there's no report of Meia being onboard and that an escape pod had been jettisoned, realization strikes down on them.

BC orders Ezra to head for the radar room and locate that pod Misty goes with the brunette.

With Meia absent, Jura assumes command of the Dreads for now.

In the escape pod Meia typed on the control panel.

She looked at the screen and said, "The distress beacon doesn't work. Off all times, I end up in an obsolete escape pod!" She looked at Serena and smiled, "So innocent. Don't worry, I won't give up I don't know what Pyoro will say to me later."

Black Dragon's radar picks up a new enemy signature. Keith displays it on his helmet's HMD and went wide-eyed.

Keith said, "Holy shit, a giant MT? I thought those things were no longer being made after the Controller was destroyed."

Canis proved him wrong, "Well, it looks like Earth has made a new superweapon for us to destroy. What about you, Keith? I'm in the mood for some MT destruction."

The American smirked, "When will these Harvesters learn that neither a Normal nor an MT can take on an Armored Core! Let's take this giant down!"

The two NEXTs pull out their beam sabers and commence their attack on the giant MT. The behemoth fires missiles at them but Black Dragon destroys the projectiles with the MOTORCOBRA-03 machine gun and Savage Beast used its newly built right back mounted GAN-01-SS chain cannon.

Keith unequipped the WADOU grenade rifle due to targeting system malfunction so he selected the MOTORCOBRA-03 machine gun for this engagement. The missiles get obliterated and then the two NEXTs open fire on the MT itself. After absorbing a significant amount of damage the cannons mounted on the MT's back disengage from the main unit and begin operating on their own. Keith and Canis briefly turn their attention toward the cannons and managed to destroy them. They resume their attack on the main unit, they continue their bombardment and smoke started to come out in puffs this was a sure sign that interior damage is building up.

Keith switches to the WHEELING-01 multi-chain missile launcher and opens up the NEMEHA-01 shoulder vertical support missiles. Achieving a 10 lock max Keith fires a salvo of missiles at the giant MT the NEMEHA-01 support missiles launch simultaneously.

Savage Beast fires its WHEELING-01 multi-chain missile launcher and homing shoulder support missiles as well. The projectiles score a direct hit on their target, sparks fly everywhere as the giant MT starts to crumble they accelerate and climb up vertically then slice the MT cleanly in two. The behemoth explodes in a spectacular light show. But the pilots don't waste time and head over to take on the Harvest fleet.

Vandread Dita tries to score a hit on the new enemy vessel but it disappears and re-appears like a ghost. Finally fed up with this, Hibiki removes his hands from the controls and crossed his arms in frustration.

In the Nirvana's radar room, Misty and Ezra search frantically for the pod.

Ezra cried, "Where can you be?"

Misty informed, "The gas clouds are affecting our detection systems, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Pyoro screamed, "There may be several gas clouds but there's only one Pyoro 2 and we gotta find her!" That's when Keith came up on the screen.

He warned, "Pyoro, if you call Ezra's baby by that name one more time I will permanently damage you or better yet, I'll re-program you into thinking you are a frog and make sure that you can't be fixed! Do you understand?" Pyoro shivered at the thought of him acting like a fog.

Ezra begged, "Please God, help me find my baby! I promise I'll stop being weak about stuff and be a good mother!" Misty briefly looked at her before expressing her own concern for Meia and the baby.

Seeing Ezra panic like that, Keith assured her, "Calm down, Ezra. We are going to find Meia and your baby. I promise."

Back in the escape pod the Dread leader tries to fix the systems.

She exclaimed, "If I mess with it too much it gets into an even worse mood, it's just like a baby!" That made Serena cry and Meia looked at the infant scratching her cheek, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to badmouth babies or anything!" A warning alarm sounds about the pod's air supply. That is an extremely bad sign! She types in some stuff and this effectively fixes the air supply.

Vandread Dita continues to get pounded by beam attacks from the enemy vessel.

Jura said, "What are you doing? Are you trying to get killed?"

Dita replied, "That's easy for you to say." Magno watches the scene from the bridge and wonders if this was some kind of plan.

When the enemy closes in for the kill the trap is sprung. Hibiki grabs the controls and this in turn caused Vandread Dita to grab the foe.

Hibiki explained, "If you can't push, you pull!" The Vandread deployed and fired its shoulder cannons, the enemy attack vessel sizzles from the beams' intense heat before exploding.

Magno smirked, "Now that's the kind of plan only a man would think of!"

Misty's face appeared on the screen, "Radar room here. We've detected another enemy group but they aren't coming after us."

Magno gasped, "It's Meia and the baby! They're going after that pod! BC!"

BC ordered, "Jura, head to those coordinates! Secure that pod!" Meia experiences a flashback of her parents and they told her that they'd always be with her, no matter what.

'I was finally able to realize something. My parents were always there for me and loved me. So yes, I must cherish those I love and pass it on to the next generation.' She thought happily as she looked at the sleeping baby held in her arms.

That smile disappeared when she heard the alarm go off again. The pod's air supply was falling and Meia reacted fast as she pulled out a Mejale space suit and placed Serena in it. She promised that she won't let the infant die Keith and the others rush over to the pod's location. A Stigro Arms Fort blocks their path but the pilots kept moving forward.

Keith demanded, "Out of our way!" He slices the AF and flies through the halved machine just before it blew up. Meia started to breath heavily as the air inside the pod continued to get thinner and thinner. She looked at Serena who was gently hitting the glass visor.

She said, "Don't worry, I can buy us some time by staying still." Suddenly the structure shakes and Meia looked out the window and spotted cube-types surrounding the pod.

She gasped, "Well that didn't take long." She slammed her fist into an emergency lever, breaking its glass covering. She briefly gazed at Serena and told her that the others would be here soon. Meia pulls the lever and this opened the hatch and she gets sucked out. Instead of being in space, the hatch opens and Meia almost lost her footing as her circlet falls from her face. She surveys her surroundings and discovers that she's in the Reg delivery ship. Keith and the others had arrived and destroy the enemy formation. The pod is safely enveloped in the delivery ship's shields while Vandread Dita stayed close to protect it.

Barnette informed, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Next time give me a heads up before you take off!"

Meia added, "Yeah and I'd love to give Parfet a piece of my mind!" She notices Serena crying as Ezra and Pyoro fight over who gets to hold the infant. Meia takes hold of the baby and Serena immediately becomes happy.

The Dread leader said, "Oh, I see. You like me do you? Well, of course you do because we've been through our own life or death situation." She laughed and did something you don't normally see. She was smiling but this one was from the bottom of her heart.

Pyoro exclaimed, "She's smiling! That face...it's the most beautiful of them all!"

Meia blinked then smiled with a small blush, "Thank you." The fighter aircraft return and their pilots finish the preparations for the party.

Later that day Meia comes out of the engine room after giving Parfet a lecture about lying.

Misty called out, "Dear Sister! Welcome back on the ship how are you feeling?"

Meia replied in a happy tone, "Couldn't be better. Thanks for asking, Misty!" The aqua marine-haired teen is surprised by Meia's change in attitude. Regardless she walks with her down the hallway.

Misty told Meia, "There's something different about you, Dear Sister."

The Dread leader wondered, "You think so?"

Misty nodded, "Yeah. You look more wonderful."

Meia rolled her eyes, "Give me a break. Are you up to something as well?"

The teen chuckled, "Oh no. Nothing at all." Waiting at the corner of a wall, Hibiki and some of the others prepare to surprise the Dread leader.

Hibiki cried, "Ready?"

They pulled on streamers they are holding and said in unison, "Happy birthday, Meia!"

Paiway asked, "Um, Meia are you mad?" The rest of the day is spent celebrating Meia's birthday. They had cake and ice cream even Keith enjoyed the party.

That night, while others were cleaning up from the party, Keith hangs out at the garden with his girlfriend. They sit near the pond and gaze out the window to look at the stars.

She asked her lover, "Hey Keith, what was Katrina like?" Keith didn't expect something like that to come out of her mouth, he hesitated at first but since Meia has opened up to others he decided to tell her.

He began his story, "Well, Katrina was a skilled pilot and compassionate as well. We first met while we were kids. I was only 6 years old at the time and was a street thug, too. Katrina was a year older than me so she was 7 when we met. I lost my parents when Adam Archer set that Utah power plant on fire. After I killed those terrorists that were searching my destroyed house for me, I took to the streets and lived there for months. I killed and stole just to survive, one night a bad thunderstorm occurred and I had to take shelter underneath a flight of stairs to shield myself from the rain. Of course there was no blanket to keep myself warm so I sat there freezing, my clothes covered with blood, my hair was long and greasy, and I was crying for my mother. Katrina heard my sobs and came to my location. She looked at me with a sympathetic look and placed a warm hand on my cheek. Of course, I blushed from it, relishing in the feeling of warmth on my face. She offered me to come with her to Collared so I could become strong and do something with my life. I took her extended hand and I left the past behind me or so I thought."

Meia said, "Go on."

Keith continued, "After registering me as a NEXT pilot, Katrina first took me to a barber shop to have my hair cut to its current length you see right now, once that was done we next went to a clothing store for some new clothes. Once that task was complete, Katrina brought me to our assigned room at Collared she placed my new clothes onto the sink in the bathroom and I removed my dirty clothes and hopped into the shower after locking the door. I spent 5 minutes ridding myself of dirt and other foul stuff. Once I got done with my shower I put my new clothes on and presented myself to Katrina. She blushed the moment she saw me in my new attire, I started getting nervous the way she was looking at me. We began my training and within a month my training was done, proving that I'm a fast learner. For 10 years we fought side by side out on the battlefield, Meia. Our bond grew until ultimately it turned into love, we were happy to have each other. We became famous as we climbed through the ranks and eventually we, along with Canis, were nicknamed the Demons of Hell by our enemies. Our fighting style was so intimidating that our targets felt like they were actually fighting demons. Our reputation gained us fans too. Some of the female Lynx at Collared idolized Katrina while the other females were entranced by my handsome features and imagined having me taking their virginity away (hehe, well that's what can happen when you become famous enough) while the guys envied me for having such a beautiful girl by my side. Katrina was the prettiest female Lynx known. Even Mary Greenfield, the pilot of her NEXT Merrygate, admitted it. Eventually we reached our mid teens and my mentor had the curves of a young woman. Her breasts were just the right size, her blue hair extended to the middle of her back, her skin was cream colored and soft and her violet eyes added a glow to her. She had a body most men would love to touch but those who have received a savage kick to the face. Only I managed to win Katrina's heart."

The Dread leader asked, "Then what?"

Keith smiled, "We carried out missions for corporations like Rosenthal, GA America, Interior Union, Omer Science Technology, Torus, Algebra, and so forth. We also took on Arms Forts from the rivaling factions and occasionally enemy NEXTs. One day, I received a mission from Line Ark that the League was planning an all out offensive against them so they asked me to co-operate with their ace White Glint in defending Line Ark. We engaged the two enemy NEXTs Stasis and Fragile. In the aftermath of that battle only I survived. The next day, the leader of the ORCA brigade Maximilian Thermidor gave us the mission to destroy GA America's Arteria Ulna facility, we completed the mission with little trouble and we were welcomed into his group. Ultimately the time came to finish phase 1 of the Closed Plan by launching an attack on Arteria Cranium. Katrina and I had to take on Wynne D. Fanchon and Adam Archer. Katrina gave her life to save mine by taking that round from Black Heart's grenade rifle. Adam killed her! I managed to disable Black Heart and Fanchon's NEXT, this meant mission complete for me. I took Katrina with me and escaped the building. ORCA took control of the Cranium. Without the energy needed to support them, the Cradles fell to Earth. In the devastation and poisoned air of the planet's surface infants coughed in the arms of their despairing mothers while the anti-satellite batteries continued their steady charge, the sins of the corporations purged. Even though humanity is decimated they would discover a new frontier: Outer Space. A new direction at last! It would be a time of growth, ambition and war! This would mark the beginning of the Colonization Era. Katrina died in my arms and a funeral was held for her the next day while I on the other hand didn't attend it, I was too overwhelmed with sorrow and guilt to show my face. Then a blinding white light appeared out of nowhere and transported me and Canis here." They both stand up and look at each other, their eyes locking onto one another. Keith took the lifts out of his shoes for this occasion so they both stood at an equal height of 5'6.

Meia apologized, "I'm sorry for what you've been through in your life."

Keith promised, "I won't let you suffer the same fate that Katrina did, Meia. I want you to be there at my side."

The Dread leader cried, "Keith."

Keith said, "Meia." Under the stars they kiss, Keith held onto Meia's waist and Meia wrapped her arms around Keith's neck as they continued their passionate embrace. Tears of joy fall from Meia's closed eyes.

Unknown to them Canis and Barnette were nearby enjoying each other's presence as they sit on the grass, they both had a smile on their faces as they watched their two leaders kiss each other.

Barnette rested her head on Canis' chest while the NEXT pilot wrapped his arms around her as they stare at the stars.

A/N: Okay, chapter 9 finally done. Sorry if this took so long, I was stumped on how I should write this chapter so I had to think for a bit.

Anyway my birthday is this Saturday and I wanted to complete this chapter before then.

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 10.

Vader 23A


	10. Chapter 10 lemon

Chapter 10: A Promise Fulfilled

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

The Dreads, Vanguard, Savage Beast and Black Dragon are currently engaging an enemy Harvest fleet inside a magnetic storm. The storm also had rock fragments that were as big as a house or more inside. The pilots had to time their attacks and keep an eye out for any asteroid that would pop up out of nowhere.

Keith and Canis are currently engaging 3 new NEXTs; these had no souls in them so Keith knows that the Harvesters have somehow built AI Armored Cores! Their CPUs had the data of a skilled pilot so they proved to be tough opponents up to the point where Keith and Canis were actually starting to sweat.

Keith said in surprise, "Man, I can't believe I am breaking a sweat! These guys are tough! I haven't had this kind of a challenge since I fought you in our arena match, Canis!"

Canis replied, "Yeah! Do you think Earth has been recording our battles?"

Keith shook his head, "I don't know but if we mess up here, it will cost us our lives! But I can't die Meia would be crushed if I parished here!" Canis agreed with him, as he thought of the same scenario with Barnette discovering that he perished in battle.

Suddenly one of the enemy NEXTs comes within point blank range much to Keith's surprise. He didn't know that this foe could move so fast. The 07-Moonlight is kicked out of its hand and the beam deactivates.

The first enemy NEXT Dark Void was a two-legged light model so it favored speed and agility over strong defense. It carried a handgun, a laser blade and a pair of small missile launchers on its back.

The second one named Oblivion was a four-legged model with dual highly destructive grenade cannons for arms, a multi-missile launcher and chain gun.

The third dubbed Executioner was a heavy reverse-jointed so this one is armed with heavy-duty firearms. It had twin bazookas in its hands, a large missile launcher that housed extremely powerful missiles that can destroy a fleet of ships, and a grenade launcher.

A warning alarm alerts Keith as his NEXT's radar detects the enemy closing in from behind. Black Dragon turns around and barely manages to catch Dark Void's left arm and stopped its laser blade merely inches away from the EKHAZER core part but then the laser blade slowly starts inching closer, Keith discovers Dark Void's plan. It planned on driving the blade through the core, through the cockpit and then through him, killing him instantly! Keith had to come up with a counter attack if he wants to stay alive, then one comes into mind. Black Dragon trips its opponent and placesone foot on the chest area and pins the right arm with the other foot, with that done Black Dragon begins pulling on the left arm. The NEXT pulls harder and harder until finally Dark Void's left arm is ripped off and Black Dragon tosses it aside and grabs the Karasawa Mk 3 from its holster then points it at the enemy's core part. An eerie blue light appears inside the barrel as the gun charged up in preparation to fire but Keith didn't have time to pull the trigger, as he had to evade a round from Oblivion's dual grenade cannons, the blast left a large in the asteroid they are using. Black Dragon hides behind a hill as Keith starts to think up of a strategy that can trash these three NEXTs. He spots Savage Beast hiding behind a hill similar to his.

Canis came up on the monitor, "Man! They won't let us get a chance to launch a counter strike! This is not looking good, Keith." Keith notices that Canis' Armored Core had undergone a metamorphosis of its own.

It now had a pair of wings resembling that of an angel's (think of the wings from the custom version of Wing Zero from the Gundam Wing movie, Endless Waltz) and its hands had taken on a more claw-like appearance and spikes were sticking out of the back of both arms.

Keith nodded, "I hear you, bro."

Then an idea struck Canis, "Hey, Keith why don't we show them why we're called the Demons of Hell! Let's use that combination attack we used in team NEXT battles."

Keith smirked, "That could possibly work."

The 17-year old asked, "Keith, you with me?"

His friend answered, "Yeah! Let's obliterate those junk piles!" Keith opens the wings on his black Armored Core and violet dragon wings come forth and Canis activated his unit's wings and blue angel wings burst out.

Keith and Canis emerge from their hiding place and fly in a zigzag pattern to prevent the enemy from gaining a lock on them, Black Dragon extends the heat whip and wraps it around Dark Void and then throws the foe into the air where Savage Beast waited. The NEXT secured its arms around the dark blue colored enemy and starts flying towards the ground at top speed and then lets go of the opponent and pulls out of the dive at the last second. Dark Void gets up from the impact crater badly damaged and didn't have enough time to react as Black Dragon impales it with its heat whip and starts swinging the enemy NEXT around like a rag doll. Black Dragon swung its helpless opponent through hills and against the ground countless times before tossing it into Oblivion and destroyed both with a charged round from the Karasawa Mk 3 laser rifle.

Now Keith and Canis can direct their attention to Executioner, which was pointing its bazookas at them.

The two Armored Cores fly toward the target and grab Executioner's head and slam it into the rock surface of the asteroid, good thing that there is no air in space because the horrible screeching sound of metal grinding against another solid surface would do a real number on a person's ear drums. The AI NEXT gets up and kicks Black Dragon and Savage Beast into another hill. The two piloted-NEXTs pull themselves free from the hill and Black Dragon retrieves the 07-Moonlight since it was nearby and ignites it, causing the violet energy blade to come out of the hilt. Keith and Canis had to rethink their strategy on this target. Their best option is to outsmart it!

Savage Beast fires its assault and laser rifle at Executioner to distract it while Black Dragon sneaks in undetected and when it came close enough the black NEXT activated its Assault Armor, hoping that the blast will destroy the target but when the smoke cleared Executioner came out undamaged and smacked Black Dragon into Savage Beast and the two crash onto the ground. The two machines get off of each other and struggle to get up, Black Dragon's regenerative ability kicks in repairing all the damage done to it while Savage Beast's main boosters suffered critical damage, the thrust output has been reduced by half and Canis had to close the wings to conserve energy. Executioner points its bazookas at its fallen prey, both Keith and Canis pray for someone to come to their rescue. And fate seems to have answered as a laser beam hits the enemy AI NEXT from behind.

A voice appeared on the radio, "An Irregular? Looks like planet Earth is getting really desperate in this harvesting operation." The unknown NEXT landed and Canis recognized it instantly!

It had the same body frame as Savage Beast but it had dark red over blue-gray colored armor, had an ER-R500 laser rifle mounted on the right arm, an EB-R500 on the left, a CG-R500 chain gun for the right back unit and EC-O300 laser cannon for the left back unit. This NEXT, named Transcend, belonged to Dario Empio, a rank 11 Lynx.

Black Dragon and Savage Beast rise to their feet and then the three launch a combination attack on Executioner. Black Dragon and Transcend start off the attack by rapid firing their laser rifles then Black Dragon unloads with the rail guns. Savage Beast uses its chain cannon this attack overwhelms Executioner's armor. Sparks fly as damage continues to build up as Keith prepares to fire the rail guns at full power he looks at the cockpit monitor to see something.

On the Nirvana's bridge Belvedere said, "Captain, something's up! Keith's NEXT is behaving abnormally! Generator output rising. Elemental conversion ratio exceeded 110%!"

Magno asked, "What did you say? Is Black Dragon somehow boosting its own output?"

Amarone stated, "An unknown system is going active!"

On the asteroid, Black Dragon raised its arms and on cue, the armor plating on its shoulders open up and point out diagonally, the armor around the head unit's mouth opens as well exposing razor-sharp mechanical teeth and the wings on Black Dragon's back deploy and bright orange dragon wings come forth.

Belvedere added, "Oh, Black Dragon has gained a new attack called Inferno Cry!"

Magno went wide-eyed, "What?"

Keith said, "Inferno Cry-the howl from the fiery depths of hell. I get what you're showing me, Black Dragon. Let's unleash its power on Executioner!" The chest plating opens up as a beam of energy forms and growing bigger by the minute. When it reaches its maximum size Black Dragon fires it at Executioner; the beam's immense power completely obliterates the enemy. The chest plating closes again. The unknown system deactivates as the armor plating on the shoulders and mouth return to their normal positions and the wings close.

Canis whistled, "Wow! That was impressive!"

Keith sighed in relief, "Man that was one of the most intense battles I've fought! Hey Dario, how did you get here?"

The pilot answered, "The Pexis transported me here, saying that I was needed in the fight against our home world." In another sector Vandread Meia finishes blowing up its demonic counterpart when they hear Dita scream as she is being chased by Fakedread Dita.

Hibiki growled, "Man that girl's annoying!" He looks at Meia, "Hey time to separate!"

Meia nodded, "Right!" The Vandread defuses and Hibiki rushed towards Dita's Dread and combines with it.

The blue Vandread tangos with its evil doppelganger in a test of strength, Vandread Dita proves to be the stronger one as it crushes Fakedread Dita's hands. The Fakedread disappears into the storm's haze.

Keith ordered, "All units, fall back!" The Dread pilots follow his command and head back to the Nirvana.

Fakedread Dita plans to give chase when Vandread Dita grabs its leg.

Hibiki said, "That's not who you're supposed to be facing!" The machine throws its opponent then fires the shoulder mounted laser cannons.

The young Tarak cried, "Let's head back."

Dita replied, "Okay." Before they could, Fakedread Jura comes out of nowhere and shoots its beam at them, causing them to separate.

When Dita recovers from her spin she tries to call Hibiki but there is no response. The redhead reluctantly returns to the ship.

When Keith, Canis and Empio get out of their NEXTs, Keith asks if Hibiki has returned yet but Barnette tells him that the young Tarak hasn't.

Hibiki lied on the ground after crash landing on a desert planet. Some natives approach the boy.

The chief said, "The boy still has breath in him. He's also met Sam."

Another asked, "So he calls himself Rabat now, huh?"

Hibiki looked up at them, "Who are you?" He asked in a raspy tone.

The chief replied, "Have no fear, little one. We mean you no harm."

The Vanguard pilot gasped, "You're speaking in my head!" Back on the Nirvana tensions are high over the missing Hibiki.

Meia contacted Magno, "With your permission, captain, I would like to go out and search for Hibiki."

Magno answered, "You can't see your hands in front of your face out there. It'd be suicide!"

Jura added, "We won't be able to win any future battles if we can't combine our Dreads with the Vanguard." Misty suggested on using the radar to look for him.

BC ordered, "Calm down, everyone!"

Magno explained, "We won't be out of this storm for some time. In the meantime, I suggest you guys get together and work this out." She pushes a button on her chair to make it go into the conference roomand she chuckled, "It's not that they want to find him just to combine with him, it's because they see him as a valuable crewmate." Without warning an intense pain hits her in the chest, the pirate leader moans in sheer agony.

Back on the desert planet Hibik is led to a house after having his wounds treated. Kids gather as they look at the newcomer. A young woman pours some sort of liquid into a bowl before giving it to Hibiki. The young teen takes a sip but immediately spits it back out because of the bad taste the kids and chief chuckle at Hibiki's reaction.

Hibiki asked, "So how come you can't use your voice?"

One of the natives replied telepathically, 'Earthlings. Earthlings took them from us!'

The chief scolded, 'Tanaka, nothing can be gained through the power of hatred.' Then he looked at Hibiki, 'Our ancestors discovered that they had the ability to make contact with the spirits this was passed down from generation to generation. Earthlings, who fear us because they thought we surpassed their understanding, stole our voices.'

Hibiki growled, "They really are heartless people."

The native leader went on, 'Yet it's thanks to this that we were able to discover this ability.'

Hibiki said, "Oh, come on! How come you guys don't fight back? I mean Earth left you here in isolation! What does it take to tick you guys off?" Everyone gasped at that.

The chief cried, 'Although it's true that the final battle with your home world is near. And it's also true that the final battle with Earth, who seeks to perform the harvest, is near, too.'

The Vanguard pilot fired back, "Yeah, well it is better not to go down without a fight!"

The chief calmly stated, 'It seems you have made contact with the Negative Conscience. You are being hasty and don't think. You managed to get in contact with your inner self before and you must do so again inside the Cave of the Spirits.'

Hibiki asked, "Cave of the Spirits? What's that?"

Tanaka told him, 'Where we go to train our minds. It's a place where we clear ourselves of doubt.'

The chief assured, 'You have nothing to fear.'

In the Nirvana radar room, Meia and the others search the chart for Hibiki's whereabouts.

Meia cried, "We're finally getting the hang of this thing."

Jura asked her, "You really think Hibiki is there?"

BC stated, "This is what you call finding a needle in a haystack."

Bart came up on the monitor and whined, "Oh, yeah? Maybe you should consider being the one who's doing all the searching!"

Meia explained, "I've asked Bart to check each and every last confirmed location."

The commander commented, "I see. That really is demanding work."

The helmsman puts on a bright smile, "Oh, so you noticed? Alright, you just leave it to me!" He ends the transmission.

'I'll find you no matter what so don't you croak until then.' He thought.

He tries another sector but it is empty, "Oops, guess I blew that one." He said with a chuckle.

Keith helps Parfet install a new firewall and security system in his NEXT. In case an enemy tries to steal Black Dragon, this system would activate triggering an immediate shutdown of all the Armored Core's systems and the firewall would prevent any hostiles from hacking into the CPU and steal important data such as the registered pilot's name, the NEXT's schematic and other vital info. Once the installation is done, Keith and Parfet repeat the process on Savage Beast and Transcend.

Hibiki continues his ascent inside the Cave of the Spirits.

He grunted, "My arms are killing me! How much further do I have to climb until I reach the top of this cave?" Eventually he finds himself in that same aqua-green sea like place again, hearing familiar voices.

One asked, "Why did you come?"

Hibiki answered, "To prove that I am myself. Who am I? I don't know!" At that admission, the Pexis shows Hibiki memories of himself with the crew then a memory from his past.

On the Nirvana Meia, Jura and Dita suddenly find themselves in a trance-like state as they point at the same location on the chart.

Meia started, "Hibiki is..."

Jura finished, "...Right in this area." On the bridge Magno received some shocking news from Duero.

Magno exclaimed, "What did you say?"

Duero informed, "There's no question. Hibiki is one of the first generation and he was onboard this pioneer ship. The pioneering fleet that was passing through this sector only kept a selected number of crew onboard and put all of the others into cold sleep. He was one of them." The pirate leader couldn't believe it.

Magno wondered, "So that baby from back then is the arrogant boy we all know?"

Hibiki observed his memories with the Nirvana crew.

Hecried, "These are moments with the crew." Then realization struck down on him, "That's it! You're a living thing, too aren't you? I understand now!" A blinding light engulfs him.

The chief smiled, 'He has finally arrived at the location where the spirits lie.'

Rabat arrives on the planet and enters the cave.

Utan jumps onto Tanaka with tears.

Tanaka told the orangutan, 'Shh, Kokopari's performing the ceremony!' The female orangutan put her hands over her mouth.

Kokopari sensed Rabat's presence and greeted him, 'Sam. Welcome back.'

Rabat said, "I knew that one day the kid would find his way here."

The chief told the young man, 'You were the same way when you first arrived here.'

The trader remarked, "I was nothing like him."

Tanaka gasped, 'Are you saying that the spirits chose him over you, Sam?'

Kokopari informed, 'We saw the blue Kachina within him.'

Rabat added, "Not just the 'Blue Giant,' he also managed to obtain the 'White Wings' and the 'Red Claw' as well."

With the location confirmed, the Nirvana sets course for the desert planet on its own will.

Hibiki finally reached the summit of the cave and bathed in the sunset.

The native chief mumbled, 'And so, another pure warrior has been born.'

Rabat said to Hibiki, "You've finally stepped onto your own stage, kid. Now make yourself known and this time use your own words!" The young Tarak decided to do just that.

He screamed, "Ahhhhh! I am Hibiki Tokai! I will never give up! I will fight for the people who believe in me!" Dita's Dread appears out of the distance.

"Mr. Alien!" The redhead cried as she saw him standing on the summit with a proud smile.

"Ha ha, stop! Stop it, Jura!" Misty laughed as Jura gave her kisses on the cheek as Barnette shrugged.

Keith stood with Meia in the ship's garden, both were relieved that Hibiki is alive and well.

Some of the salvage crew board the Vanguard onto a transport ship to bring it back to the Nirvana for repairs.

The chief told the young pilot, 'You have been reborn and withstood the challenge. You are indeed a noble warrior.'

Hibiki rubbed his nose, "Oh, stop. I'm embarrassed enough as it is from making such big scene earlier." Kokopari puts a green gem on Hibiki's forehead.

He said, 'As long you have this stone, we are with you. You have overcome the challenge of this land and have reborn. From this day forward this planet is your new homeland. You may come back here at anytime. In hard times and in happy times, you don't need to hesitate. We will always be here to greet you because forever more we are your family now.'

Hibiki mumbled, "You are my family?"

Kokopari nodded with a smile, 'Yes.'

Hibiki started to choke up and said, "Thank you." He boards the Nirvana once again as they resume their course for Mejale.

In the conference room, Magno is having a chat with Keith and Canis about their newest crewmate.

Keith introduced, "Captain, this is Dario Empio. He is the pilot of Transcend and the guy who saved my and Canis' ass in that brutal engagement with those three AI Armored Cores. And Dario, this is Magno Vivan. She is the captain of the Nirvana and leader of the Mejale space pirates."

Empio bowed his head, "Nice to meet you, Magno."

Magno asked, "So Keith is Empio from your time period as well?"

Empio replied, "Yes, I am." Magno observed the newcomer's appearance.

He was currently wearing a black g-suit, had short brown hair, amber colored eyes, stood at around 6'4 and had an impressive build. Magno guesses that the pilot has to be about 22 years old.

Canis stated, "With your permission, Captain I would like to have Empio be a part of the crew during this war with Earth because we are going to need all the help we can get. The final battle is drawing near and you can bet Earth will throw everything they got at us."

The aged pirate nodded her head, "You do have a point. Very well, Dario Empio, you are hereby a member of my crew." Empio thanked her and the NEXT pilots leave the conference room.

Keith and Canis give Empio a tour of the ship, along the way Empio spots some of the female crew.

Empio said, "This ship has some extremely cute and pretty girls, Keith."

Keith chuckled, "Yeah that was my first reaction when I arrived here. Since the old way of making children between men and women is obsolete in this time period, both Tarak and Mejale have a way of producing children."

His friend raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"

Canis shrugged, "We don't know but we can guess that it's through breeding techniques." As if luck were to have it Jura stopped them, "Take Jura for example. She was born on Mejale, a planet populated only of females. She's a clear example of the breeding methods that Mejale uses." Empio looked at the blonde and studied her appearance.

He cried, "I have to say, Canis Jura is quite a looker."

Jura blushed at that, "Thanks. You must be the new guy everyone's talking about. Dario Empio, was it?" The young man nodded. The blonde continued, "How about I give you the rest of the tour?" Empio simply shrugged.

Before she left, Jura got a look from Keith that meant, "Don't try anything funny, missy! Empio is not someone to fool around with." That look sent a chill up her spine but continues to give Empio the tour.

Hibiki makes his way towards Dita's room anxiety wrecked his nerves he recalls what Canis said to him.

Flashback

_Canis bunked Hibiki's head and said in a serious tone, "Look, kid it's about time for you to grow a spine and toss away all of that Tarak propaganda of women being monsters. All of that is a bunch of garbage."_

End of flashback

He finally reached his destination and presses the buzzer on the door panel.

A voice said, "Coming!" Hibiki knew that voice belonged to Dita. The door slides open to reveal the redhead.

Hibiki said nervously, "Um, hi."

Dita replied, "Hello, Mr. Alien! I've been waiting for you!" She leads him into her room with a soft pull of his arm, much to Hibiki's surprise. He would normally expect the redhead to be jumping up and down before tackling him but not this time. Dita remembered Keith telling her to be mindful of her actions when he visited her room. She is doing just that, she's being a lot more restrained than her usual self.

Hibiki said, "So this is a woman's room. It's a lot different from what I was expecting."

Dita asked, "Do you like it? Come on, I'll show you some of my UFO collection." She directs him to various UFO stuff, ranging from toys to poster boards hanging on the walls. He sweat dropped from the sheer amount of alien stuff but he concludes it was just part of Dita's personality. Next, she leads him to her bed and they both sit down on the covered mattress. They look into each other's eyes though this time they didn't look away. Dita notices how relaxed Hibiki is and decided to make her move.

She said, "Mr. Alien, do you recall the time when we were just about to kiss?"

Hibiki nodded, "Yes, I do recall that."

Dita replied, "How would you react if that happened?"

The young Tarak shook his head, "I don't know. Normally I'd just push you away but now I have no clue on how I would react kissing a woman."

The redhead smiled, "How about we find out right now?" Hibiki gulped nervously but knew that this had to be done.

(Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Here is lemon number 3 and this one is with Dita and Hibiki. Anyone under the age of 18, please leave and those 18 years of age or older please read on. Enjoy.)

Dita and Hibiki close the gap between one another and their lips finally met. A blush stained their cheeks as they pull away for air. This encouraged them to continue. They kiss again, Hibiki's tongue licked Dita's lips asking for entrance. The redhead didn't hesitate and opened her mouth, their tongues groped and played with each other. Dita decided to go first and removed her decorative jacket, exposing her slender arms to the Vanguard pilot Hibiki separated from the kiss and looked at Dita. Even though she's only 16 years old, she was already considered attractive as Keith called it. Hibiki realized that Canis was correct, Dita is nothing like the monsters portrayed in the Tarak propaganda films. He removed her tiara that rested on her head and ran his hand through her red hair. It felt soft and silky to the touch.

Dita said, "Oh Mr. Alien, that feels nice!" Out of curiosity he took a small whiff of her hair and the scent coming off of it was nice. They continue their intimate experience. Dita removed her black tank top, her breasts bounced as they were freed from their prison. Hibiki stared at them. This was the first time in his life he has seen a woman's breasts. He reached out with his hands and touched them, they were soft.

Dita moaned in pleasure as her breasts were being played with, next Hibiki took a nipple into his mouth and licked it Dita ran her hands through his hair as her body was hit with waves of pleasure.

Deciding to be fair, Hibiki removes his jacket, inner shirt and head band which was a cloth. Dita did her own examination of Hibiki's physical appearance.

His body was tanned but she somehow knew that living on a harsh world like Tarak would give any man an extremely strong sun tan.

She ran her hands over his torso and her touch sent shivers over Hibiki's chest. The two resume their love making with Hibiki laying Dita on the bed and gave her kisses from her neck down to her stomach. He removes her skirt carefully as not to tear it. It slid off to display her slim, perfectly crafted legs she now only had on black panties. Her ankle-high boots were also discarded. Seeing the redhead clad in only her panties made Hibiki become more heated than before. He climbed over her and kissed Dita as he rubbed her thigh, admiring the softness of her skin.

All of a sudden Dita rolled them over so that she was the one on top, her breasts pressing against his chest as she grinds her hips against his, causing his member to get aroused. She felt it rub against her womanhood and then she stripped him of his boots, pants and loincloth that covered that certain part of the male anatomy.

'So this is the tube between a man's legs.' Dita thought as she looked at the erected member.

She grasped it in her hand and began rubbing it, causing waves of ecstasy to course through Hibiki's body.

She felt him twitch and wandered if she did something wrong but that was quelled when Hibiki told her, "I'm fine but this is an extremely sensitive organ on the male body so be gentle." She took his advice and cautiously rubbed it. Then an idea came into her head.

She removed her panties and decided to try the 69 position she read about in one of the books. She places herself over Hibiki so that her pussy was above his face and her facing his cock. Guided by instincts, Hibiki began eating Dita as she took him into her mouth. So far she was doing well in showing Hibiki how she feels about him. A few minutes later they climaxed. Dita felt Hibiki's penis twitch before shooting a load of his seed into mouth and as for Hibiki his face gets covered with Dita's juices as she came. They rest for a moment to recover. Now it was time for the real thing. They switch places so that Dita was on bottom again and Hibiki hovered over her, with a nod from the redhead he inserts his member into Dita's vagina, the Dread pilot moaned as she felt Hibiki's cock move past the inner folds and into her barrier. He gives a quick thrust and breaks it, tears fall from Dita's eyes.

Dita said, "That was my barrier you just broke, Mr. Alien. It was a sign of my virginity. I read that it's supposed to hurt, give me a few minutes to relax." He obeyed her wishes and waited then the pain faded away and is replaced with a sensation in her vagina.

She said, "You can continue now."

Hibiki nodded, "Okay." He applied slow thrusts into her and Dita moaned in joy and pleasure as she felt more alive than she's ever been before. She places her arms around Hibiki's neck as she was drowned in ecstasy.

She cried, "Oh, Mr. Alien. It feels so good! Give me more!" He still hated being called that but hearing how she said it made him speed up his thrusts, Dita dug her nails into his back and wrapped her legs around his waist. Hibiki felt himself thrusting deeper inside her, at one point he hit her g-spot which increased their pleasure several fold. They soon felt that they've reached their limit and they both cried out their orgasm.

Dita felt Hibiki's member discharge a load of his seed in her vagina. It coated her walls and warmed her like nothing else would. This triggered her to cum, she howled in pleasure as she came over Hibiki's cock. Her partner convulsed in her arms, burying his face in her long, sweet smelling red hair. Eventually their orgasm died down but the young Tarak didn't lose his hardness as doing this with Dita sent a fire throughout his body. He picked her up and places her on her stomach. The redhead found herself still heavily aroused and got up on her hands and knees. She recalled the man and woman doing it in this position and wanted to try it out. She looked at him heatedly and Hibiki held onto her hips and began thrusting into her again and Dita smiled as her body became heated once more, she pushes herself against him making him go deeper into her vagina. Hibiki messaged Dita's moving breasts, by this time their bodies were covered with sweat but it urged them onward. Dita turned and kissed Hibiki. They felt their second orgasm hit with more intensity. The 16-year old girl felt another stream of Hibiki's seed enter her and felt her pussy return the favor as it milked Hibiki's member. The two collapsed onto the bed, their energy spent. They kiss one another deeply.

Hibiki was planning on leaving, sensing that he fulfilled his promise but Dita stopped him.

She begged him, "Don't go, Mr. Alien! I want you to sleep here for the night!" Hibiki agreed and this made Dita cuddle up to him as they held each other with the bed sheets covering them as they dozed off into slumber. They ignore the fact that they're still naked and are pressing against one another but they didn't care.

Keith decided it was time to see if Hibiki had kept his promise so he activated a monitor and looked into Dita's room. He sees Hibiki sleeping with Dita in her bed. Keith smiles but it grew bigger when he saw their clothes lying on the bedroom floor.

'Hibiki, Dita, I'm really proud of you two.' Keith thought as he closed the monitor before exiting his room.

He spots Canis and noticed he had a smirk on his face and they high five each other.

Keith said, "Looks like our lectures worked, my friend."

Canis nodded, "Indeed." They spot Empio thanking Jura for the tour. The blonde Dread pilot didn't do anything stupid as Keith warned her.

Empio commented, "This ship is truly impressive, guys." The three walk through the hallway toward Empio's new room. All of his stuff was already inside. He bids his friend good-night and closed the door, locking it too.

Keith and Canis head back to their rooms.

Keith asked, "Hey, Canis. You think we should stay here in this time period when the war's over or go back to our own?"

Canis replied, "If we head back we'll probably be hunted down like rats since we betrayed the League. If we stay here then we'll be safe, no need for us to worry about being involved in another war between corporations and we'd also have our girlfriends with us. I don't know yet."

Keith urged, "Well, we better make our decision soon because the final battle is drawing near and we need to gain as much allies as we can. We all know Earth will launch a shit load of fleets at us."

A/N: Finally chapter 10 complete! Thank god! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I'm deeply sorry about the late update. Well there are reasons why.

First, I had to get a new hard drive for my laptop so I had to wait until that was done before I could continue this story.

Second, last week was the first anniversary of my grandmother passing away. She passed away on December 16, 2008, so I needed some time alone for that.

I brought another support Lynx, the pilot of Transcend. Dario Empio. Plus I gave Black Dragon a super mode though I haven't given it a name yet.

Read and review.

I hope you enjoyed the lemon between Dita and Hibiki. Oh yeah, Freedom Guard can your reviews be more positive next time, please?

Stick around for chapter 11.

Vader 23A


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Unexpected Surprise

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Vandread Jura is leading the Nirvana through the magnetic storm in its improved shields. Hibiki looks at the enhancements that the Vandread had undergone.

He said, "It looks like some areas have been fortified. We can use this to get through smaller magnetic storms."

Jura said ecstatically, "Did you hear that everyone? The newest version of Vandread Jura will now elegantly tow you all the way to Mejale! You better appreciate it!" The entire crew's in high spirits as they see the radar display Mejale.

Barnette mumbled, "Almost there."

Duero wondered, "Was the journey a long one, hard to say." Keith had an arm around Meia's waist and she had her head on his shoulder.

'Please. Even if I make it home, please let me stay with Mr. Alien.' Dita mentally prayed.

The Harvesters haven't launched any surprise attacks so far, the Nirvana crew hope it stays that way. Keith is surprised on how much the Mejale space pirates' view of men has changed over the course of this journey and not just from his and his fellow NEXT pilot's presence. What surprised him more is how much the bridge bunny Celtic has changed. She has discarded that bear suit and now wore various stylish outfits ranging from a female ninja outfit to her current attire, which is a bikini. The American can imagine how pretty Celtic will be when she reaches full maturity.

Dita said, "We'll be home soon."

"I'm excited, ribbit!" Paiway cried from her frog hand puppet.

Misty scoffed, "Humph! And what makes you so sure? You guys are so full of yourselves, haven't you thought that maybe you will be harvested the moment you get back?"

One crew member said, "How cruel!"

Celtic asked, "How can you say that?"

Misty replied, "Nothing. It's just that your Mejale is of no concern to me. Later."

Celtic exclaimed, "What a snotty brat! She should mind her own business!" The shielded Nirvana collides with a rock fragment.

Bart asked, "Do you think we'll make it this way?"

Hibiki replied, "You can't let something like this bother you. We're going to make sure we get there! I'll see it with my own eyes: our future!"

Jura teased, "Oh, you're so mature. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Hibiki looked at her in bewilderment when she said that. The shaking stops.

Dita said, "Whew, that was scary."

Paiway clarified, "More like a close call, ribbit."

The redhead cried, "Mr. Alien's doing a really incredible job!" She contacted him, "Mr. Alien!"

Hibiki replied, "What is it?"

Dita told him, "You know what? I'll be making a lot of tasty stuff to celebrate when you get back!" That caught Hibiki's interest.

He said, "Sounds good."

Jura frowned, "So what is this all about between you two?"

Barnette came up on another monitor, "Oh stop pouting! I'll be making up something special for you as well, Jura." The blonde haired Dread pilot starts getting all help and says cheerful words before giving Barnette blow kisses.

Hibiki observed her mood swing, "Man, she's really weird."

Then something came into Jura's mind, "You know this may sound a little strange but even if you were able to become friends with Dita, you're still a guy. You won't be able to stay on Mejale!"

Hibiki fired back, "That isn't important! Right now, fighting the harvest is a lot more important than future events like that!"

Dita added, "That's right! I'll fight alongside Mr. Alien even if it's for an eternity!" Ever since Hibiki and Dita made love in Dita's room, Hibiki has been friendlier toward the redhead but he's still irritated about her calling him 'Mr. Alien.' He hopes that she'll call him by his actual name.

Jura purred, "Then why don't we go ahead and make a baby?"

Hibiki shouted, "Stop thinking about that and keep your mind on the job!"

The blonde said, "Hm, you're not very honest are you?" Parfet visits Duero at the infirmary.

She spots him typing on the medical room's computer.

She asked, "Hi, doctor. How are you doing?"

Duero replied, "Not bad."

Parfet told him, "You know, I notice that when you're happy the pitch in your voice gets lower. Others' voices go higher."

Duero looked at her with a smile, "Should I be thankful that someone likes to be spend time observing me?"

The engineer said, "I guess I'm a little nervous. My heart skipped a beat just now."

The doctor teased, "Do you need an examination?"

Parfet chuckled, "Oh no. I'll be fine." Misty steps onto a skywalk above the Pexis

Misty cried, "Everyone's all happy fine then I am just an outsider!" She looked at Q-Chan who was pointing at the engine core, "Huh? What's wrong with the Pexis?"

Pyoro shouted while holding fliers hopping excitingly, "Extra! Extra! We're holding a banquet to celebrate our arrival at Mejale and Tarak!" He shows a flier to her, only to have her develop a tick mark and look away a with a huff so Pyoro asked, "What are you pouting? Are you lonely?"

Misty wondered, "Me lonely? Well, that's absolutely absurd!"

The white robot exclaimed, "I knew it! Pyoro!" Suddenly he becomes possessed by the Pexis and it tells Misty that it was originally fused but by some accident it separated and its other half is connected to the inhabitants of the corrupt and twisted Earth. It ultimately told her that the two sides of the Pexis were interacting and this shocked Misty because in her perspective the two were calling out for each other but at the same time they were fighting each other. She reached out and embraced the possessed robot.

Back in Vandread Jura, the blonde Dread pilot pondered, "Did you ever wonder what it'd be like for men and women coming together and making a baby?"

Hibiki started, "Well..."

Jura pointed at herself, "Do you think you can try it out with me?"

Hibiki yelled, "Shut up with that! Besides I don't know how to make one!"

The blonde displayed a comical pout, "Then how did Keith know how to deliver Ezra's baby?"

Hibiki looked at the ceiling, "It's not that he wanted to!"

Jura added, "You won't make a very good Ohma with an attitude like that."

Hibiki blinked, "You mean a parent? Come to think of it, I wonder what I'd teach my kids if I had any."

The Mejalian looked at him, "You're still a kid yourself."

Hibiki declared, "Yeah? It would be better if I show some results, you know?"

Jura raised an eyebrow, "You really have changed." The Nirvana exits the seemingly endless magnetic storm.

Amarone said, "We've finally cleared the storm! We are in Mejalian space now!" The banquet starts.

Magno cried, "I say a toast is in order."

The crew announced in unison, "Cheers!" Jura whines that they started the party without her.

Bart came out of the helm, "I'm back!" He turns around to notice the crew, "Oh man, they started without me!" Parfet and Duero arrive in time.

Parfet gasped, "Wow! Everyone's here!"

Duero admitted, "I'm not real good with crowds."

The engineer replied, "Then you'll just have to stick with me. Come on!" She grabs his hand and leads him into the crowd.

Bart rubbed his eyes to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, "Duero and Parfet have that kind of a relationship?" He spots BC and asked, "The commander's all alone! Is this my big chance?"

Meia wandered throughout the ship in search of Misty until she discovers her sitting on the skywalk.

Meia said, "So this is where you have been hiding. I've been looking for you. Let's go spend time with the others."

Misty informed, "The Pexis would feel lonely so I'll stay here."

The Dread leader replied, "Alright. I'll stay here as well."

Misty looked at Meia with teary eyes and mumbled, "Dear Sister."

Dita contacted, "Mr. Alien! Come on, you're missing everything!"

Hibiki growled, "Will you stop with that? I'm on my way back!" The Vandread defuses and the two craft land. They reach the party.

Dita cheered, "You were great out there, Mr. Alien!"

Barnette threw in her two cents, "Nice work, Jura." The blonde immediately cried in her friend's chest this made the brunette asked, "Aren't you going overboard?"

Jura looked up at her, "It's just that you've so busy with regulations I've been so lonely!" Barnette stroked Jura's hair with a smile.

Dita looked around and noticed that someone was absent, "Where's Misty?"

Hibiki answered, "Maybe she thinks that she doesn't fit in here." On the engine room skywalk Meia and Misty talked.

Misty said, "I started to think that I wasn't lonely. If I ever started to doubt myself...but now I'm afraid of being alone."

Meia stated, "How ironic. In the beginning, I've always sought solitude. If I kept myself from getting close to someone then I wouldn't be hurt but I hated myself for thinking like that. After Keith arrived in my life, I realized that falling in love doesn't you weak. It allows you to become strong, Keith is somewhat similar to me because he lost his parents during childhood and was taken in by Katrina but her untimely death left him feel lonely again. Now I promised myself to never let him be alone again. I want to be with Keith and everyone else I love." She gives the 14-year old a friendly smile.

Misty gets up and the two leave until Dita came and gave a smile of her own.

She grabbed Misty's hands, "Come on, Misty you're missing out on the party!" They arrive at the banquet and Dita said, "It must be real sad if you don't know how others feel. There are others here for you. You're never alone with us, Misty. I know! When we get back you can move in with me!"

Misty replied, "Sorry but I have no interest of becoming some UFO obsessed freak!" She first gives Dita an annoyed expressed before it softened this causes Dita to giggle.

Bart is sulking after being turned down by BC about inviting her to the banquet.

He moped, "I know it seems strange for a Tarak inviting a woman to a party but I'm so unhappy about it!" He flared his arms up and down then suddenly a warning alarm blares throughout the ship. He enters the helm again and the bridge bunnies hop into their respective console seats. Multiple monitors pop up displaying mines.

Belvedere gasped, "Mines are everywhere! The whole sector is one big minefield and it appears to be a defense line for Tarak!"

Magno wondered, "For Tarak?"

Amarone added, "There's an automated message. I'll put it through."

It said, "This is the Tarak space defense system, please state your ship's identification code. If you don't comply, we will designate you as an enemy and will commence an attack."

Hibiki came on another monitor and asked, "What do you want to do? I'm eager to go out there!" That a was a foolish decision.

Magno fired back, "Stand down! Take no action! This defense line stops or at least slows down attacks launched by Earth!"

The system replied, "No identification code has been detected, now assuming defensive attack mode."

BC mumbled, "Oh no!"

Magno wondered, "A Tarak identification code. Don't you men have something like that?"

Bart spoke truthfully, "Identification codes were only offered to senior officers! We were junior officers still in training!"

Duero replied, "I hate to say it but I never received one either."

Hibiki growled, "The same thing goes for me as well!" The gun turrets start to take aim.

Ezra gasped, "The defense system has targeted the Nirvana! They've begun the final countdown!" Talking a bad turn for the worst! Keith and his fellow NEXT pilots have no intention of dying after coming this far. But what options did they have? They can't try and shoot down all of those mines and that defense system without getting caught in the blast, they didn't have a Tarak ID code since they weren't born on that planet and had to warn both Tarak and Mejale about Earth's harvesting operation. Sad to say, they didn't know what to do.

Barnette said, "To think we'd be shot down by Tarak!"

Paiway broke into tears, "We made it all the way back! I really wanted to go home!"

She felt Meia place a hand on her shoulder and the Dread leader said, "Don't worry. We'll make it back."

Belvedere announced, "158 seconds remaining!" Parfet and Duero head to the pod control room and try to deactivate the mines.

Duero said, "That's strange. I feel less worried about you."

Parfet looked at him and smiled, "Thank you. I feel the same way about you."

Belvedere announced again, "Less than 30 seconds left!"

Beads of sweat are now starting to fall from Keith's face out of the corner of his eye he can see Empio doing a prayer as he wishes for something to save them.

Bart screamed, "Oh my god! Why didn't I get Grand Pa's code when I had the chance?"

Keith's heart begins to race as he heard the blonde bridge bunny say the final countdown numbers, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2..." Before she could finish BC reached up and touched the green gem that was on the neck portion of her short green shirt, it flashed for a moment before turning into a red color.

She spoke in a different voice, "Tenmei Urasagumi of the Tarak Empire Special Information Bureau. Rank: Commander. ID code: Kanoe-2038. Begin confirmation." The whole crew for an answer.

The system said, "Confirmation complete. We pray for your ship's success in its mission." The mines deactivate, allowing the Nirvana to pass through the defense line.

Tenmei ordered, "Ezra, leave a marker at our current location."

Ezra replied in a nervous voice, "Understood!"

The Tarak undercover agent announced, "Attention all crew, we are taking the custody of a spy to the brig! Two security guards report to the bridge immediately."

'A voice changer never thought I'd be hearing one of those things again.' Canis thought as he remembered the time he and Keith were in a similar situation when terrorists stole their NEXTs and they had to go on an infiltration mission to get them back.

Keith brought a voice changer along when they came across an automated security system and had to use the device to change his voice into a feminine one to deceive the system and give the proper ID code to deactivate it. After bypassing that and taking care of armed infantry guarding Black Dragon and Savage Beast, the two left the base but after taking to the sky, they turned the base into nothing but a burning ruin so no trace of their infiltration could be found. The press would believe that the base was leveled due to a major explosion caused by electrical arcing coming into contact gas fumes.

Amarone asked who Tenmei but the Tarak spy only sighed.

Magno apologized, "I'm sorry you had to do that. There was really no other choice."

Tenmei stared at the old pirate in shock, "You mean you knew all along?" Magno gave him a sincere smile.

The spy exhaled with a sad smile, "I'm truly sorry that I deeply deceived you, you are a wonderful person. Although the time was short, I was honored having to serve under you." Magno closed her eyes in understanding his words.

He leaves the bridge with the two security guards, leaving Bart completely shocked at the revelation.

He cried, "No way! She's a guy?"

Hibiki ran down the hallway and soon stopped when Tenmei walked past him, Hibiki stood there trying to understand what happened. Soon the spy enters one of the brig's cells but then sensed the guard's hesitation.

Tenmei asked, "What's wrong? Put up the shield."

The guard cried, "But..."

She is silenced by him saying, "Do it!" She types in the code to activate the laser bars.

Tenmei assured, "Don't worry I won't try to escape."

Hibiki and Duero enter the room.

Hibiki demanded, "Why? Tell me why the leaders of Tarak had to go this far?" Duero, however, remained calm as if he somehow knew all along.

Tenmei answered, "Relations between the two planets have become irreparable."

Duero queried, "What I want to know is where do you fit in all of this. What would be the chances of us being alive right now if you weren't a guy? Throughout this journey, it has taught me that my previous education didn't cover everything. I have discovered that people can change under their own will. This ship is proof of that. Commander, don't you agree?" Tenmei doesn't answer.

Another alarm blares.

Amarone cried, "Captain, we are picking up ships from Tarak!"

Belvedere added, "We're picking up ships from Mejale as well!"

Keith whispered, "Shit, this isn't good." The Tarak spy closes his eyes as he prepared for what's about to happen next.

To be continued...

A/N: Chapter 11 done. Well, it's now the year 2010! It is amazing how fast 2009 passed by. I wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve with my parents, watching the Countdown with the Three Stooges marathon on AMC since I'm a huge fan of those guys, and also to think up what stories I'll be writing next once this one is complete.

Read and review.

Just a little heads up, chapter 12 will be graphic so for those of you who don't like or have a weak stomach about gore and stuff like that, don't read the upcoming chapter.

Vader 23A


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Search and Rescue

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Belvedere said, "The Tarak fleet has targeted the Nirvana!"

Bart begged, "Please don't shoot!" Keith stood on the bridge as he looks at the two fleets with anger etched on his face. He and the others came all this way to warn Tarak and Mejale but instead they are targeted. But then again, they are space pirates. Keith, Canis and Empio aren't pirates!

Amarone stated, "Captain, the Tarak fleet has sent us a message! It says: 'Attention space pirates of Mejale prepare for an unconditional surrender.' typical Tarak."

Misty wondered, "Unconditional? Why can't they talk to us directly?"

Pyoro answered, "On Tarak, they say if you talk to women your ears and vocal cords will blow up."

Misty gagged in disgust, "How stupid! Talking to a woman will make you lose your ears and voice!"

Ezra added, "We're now being hailed by the Mejale fleet. They say: 'If you follow the unconditional surrender request from Tarak, we will board your ship and evacuate your crew!' What should we do?"

Magno concluded, "Hm, I think it'd be best not to stir up trouble for now." In the brig Duero, Hibiki and Tenmei hear the alarm.

Hibiki wondered, "What now?"

Duero asked, "And how do you think Tarak will react to all of this?"

Tenmei answered, "What happens next depends on how the captain handles the information about the harvest."

Duero said, "So in other words, the harvest is our trump card."

Tenmei looked at the ground for a second before looking at the doctor again, "No, there is another card to play." A Mejale ship docks with the Nirvana and its boarding crew enters the ship.

They appear before the crew wearing those space suits that the Mejalian space pirates used in the Ikazuchi raid.

Paiway took in the sight, "Women are scary. At least that's what they say." They point their guns at the young nurse, frightening her.

Meia shouted, "Stop that! She's only a child!" The boarding crew's response is shoving Meia to the ground roughly, the rest of the boarding crew split up to gather the others. Dita and Parfet get captured as Dita was making bentos for Hibiki and the other men as she knows that they'd be going back to those pills.

Meanwhile, Jura meets with Barnette in Reg central, the brunette was busy typing in something.

Jura demanded, "Come on, Barnette! We gotta go!"

Barnette replied, "Just give me a little more time." She looked at what her blonde friend was holding, "What are you doing with that?"

The blonde Dread pilot smiled, "Oh, these are one of a kind items. They're not easy to come by."

Barnette corrected, "Not that. I mean the book."

Jura blushed, "Oh, I thought it would come in handy in the time of need."

The dark green-haired woman asked, "You're still obsessed with that?"

Jura turned serious, "Anyway, what were you doing just now?"

Barnette said, "Security. That way they won't hack in and do whatever they want to the ship." The Mejale boarding party arrives and pointed their laser rifles at the two, Barnette presses a hidden button underneath the desk to activate the security system.

Keith, Canis and Empio are heading for their NEXTs when suddenly 10 space suited members of the boarding party surround them.

One of them ordered, "Hands up! Do what I say, men!" The three NEXT pilot look at their adversaries then to each other.

They spring into action, killing the 10 party members with quick and brutal efficiency. They resume their course for their machines and soon reached their destination. The other members reach the bridge and aim their weapons.

Magno said, "Oh my, you certainly have a way of greeting people. I guess we'll be accepting your invitation."

Duero, Bart, Pyoro and Hibiki take a stroll on the engine room skywalk.

Duero stated, "You know, this seems like some twist of fate. This is where you first met Dita. In fact this ship is where we all first met, it was here where we discovered where men and women originated and a world we have yet to see."

Hibiki asked sternly, "Alright, what's this all about? I don't like people who are usually full of energy being too quiet all of a sudden." He looks at Bart and Pyoro.

Duero gave a sympathetic smile, "Oh, don't worry about that. Bart's been like that ever since the whole thing happened with the commander and it's hard on Pyoro being separated from Serena."

Hibiki smirked, "Hold up, you figured out that I'm one of the first generation."

The doctor nodded, "That's right. You certainly are." Hibiki went on about talking to the elder members of the Tarak Council but then he felt a stinging sensation in his posterior, Hibiki turned around and realized that Duero had injected a sedative into him as his vision became blurry and his legs gave out. He falls into the Pexis.

Bart gasped, "It swallowed him!"

Pyoro agreed, "The Pexis is keeping him safe!"

Duero explained, "They have no idea that Hibiki was here in the first place. So he will serve as the ace up our sleeve."

Bart asked, "How did you come up with an idea like that?"

Duero answered, "You can thank the commander for that."

The helmsman whined, "I'm not in the mood for that right now!" He collapsed with tears in his eyes.

Pyoro wondered, "What should I do?"

Bart got up and growled, "You should lie around here and play dead, that's what you should do!" He rubs Pyoro's head roughly with no sympathy.

The white robot groaned, "Stop! You're hurting me!" After typing in the password for the security system on their NEXTs, the system activates shutting down all the start-up buttons, locking the control sticks, etc. The firewall activates as well to protect the vital CPU. With this done the three pilots head for Keith's room to load up for their retrieval mission. After looking both ways to make sure no one saw them, they enter the room and Keith types in the combination for the gun vault, the safe opens up. They choose their weapons.

Keith picks the M-4 carbine assault rifle with its customization parts still on, M9A1 pistol, highly destructive plasma grenades that incinerate anything ranging from thick steel to human flesh, and hunting knife for close-range combat with armed infantry.

Canis chooses the M-37 pump action shotgun, M-16A3 rifle for long-range fire, and grenades.

Empio picks an RPG to blow up tanks or reinforced placements like pillboxes and C4 plastic explosives.

After equipping their weapons of choice and putting their ammunition laden vests onto their g-suits, Keith closes the vault.

Canis and Empio were about to head out before Keith said, "Hold up, guys! There's one more vault I want to show you." Wondering what he meant by that, they follow him to another vault.

This one was a little bigger and blue in color with gold outlining. This vault had a lock similar to the locks one would see on a storage shed. He removed the key from its hanging position and undid the lock.

Pulling the heavy door open with a grunt, Keith presented its content to his friends.

Canis and Empio went wide-eyed.

Canis said, "You would only see these in ninja or samurai movies!" The weapons ranged from katanas to shuriken.

Keith picks the katana and straps it to his back and placed a spike disc onto his belt after folding it to its standby form.

Canis selected the kusarigama or chain-sickle. It's a traditional Japanese weapon that consisted of Kama, a Japanese equivalent to a farmer's scythe on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. A skilled wielder can use it with deadly efficiency! What the wielder would usually do is swing the weighted chain over his/her head in a large circular pattern and swing it forward to entangle it with an opponent's spear, sword or other weapons, or immobilizing their arms or legs. This allowed the kusarigama user to safely rush in forward and strike with the sickle. Another method of using the weapon is by spinning the weighted end of the chain directly, causing serious or deadly injuries. One targeted hit to an unprotected head can kill a person. The kusarigama and katana were used in the feudal era of Japan.

Empio selected a long, nasty looking wrist blade.

Satisfied with their chosen secondary close-range weapons, Keith closes the vault before securing the lock back into place then put the key in its holder. Keith steps out of his bedroom checking both sides of the hallway then signaled the others to come out. They head toward a pair of infiltration ships that were stationed in a specially designed hanger in the Nirvana's left wing. Besides using intact debris from destroyed Harvest units to make new NEXT weaponry, Keith suggested on using these parts to make infiltration ships for retrieval missions Parfet had no complaints and liked the idea.

When the Mejale boarding ship departs with the Nirvana crew, a Tarak ship docks with it and its boarding party frees the male prisoners.

One said, "I'm free!"

Another said, "I'm surprised they didn't eat your liver."

Duero answered, "I guess they didn't want indigestion." The laser bars to Tenmei's prisoner deactivate and he walks out.

One saluted, "This way. The Prime Minister is waiting." He removes the handcuffs.

A foot collides with Pyoro's head as the white robot played dead.

Bart and Duero watch from the Tarak ship as the others tow the Nirvana away.

Pyoro wondered, "That was Bart, wasn't it?" The three infiltration ships detach from the Nirvana's left wing and split up though Keith hasn't informed Canis and Empio of the plan

Keith taps into the miniature microphone that he gave to Barnette. It is hidden by her hair. He listens in on the court session taking place.

In the court house on Mejale, the female judge looks at the Hello Baby book.

She said in a cold voice, "How absolutely disgusting!" She tosses it to the ground, "Burn it immediately!"

A guard picked it up before Jura shouted, "Hey, give that back!"

The judge demanded, "Be quiet, Ms. Elden! Were you attempting to direct other women down your sinful path? You're a witch! Admit it, Ms. Elden not just you but every one of you of Magno's crew are nothing but despicable witches!"

Jura glared back at her in anger, "Witch? Where do you get off calling me that, huh?"

Misty whispered to Meia, "I guess this is what they say. In a way, Mejale is a really nice place."

The judge sat back down, "From what I've heard, you have been fooling with the public about a harvest operation, and you have used it as a justification for attempting a pirate coup de tat."

Parfet mumbled, "A coup de tat?"

Barnette growled, "Talk about playing the victim."

Magno stated, "Oh, we didn't know anything about that." Whispering can be heard throughout the jury.

Misty informed, "Nobody has informed them about the harvest they're completely in the dark." That was unexpected.

The judge declared, "By the power of Lord Grand Ma, you are hereby sentenced to life! Take them to the prison facility! This court is adjourned!" Serena begins to cry with Ezra trying to calm her child down. That was the three NEXTs pilots' trigger to take action.

Keith explained, "Alright, here's how the plan is going down. We're going to split up and achieve the mission objectives. Canis, you will head to that Mejalian prison facility and free Magno and the girls while Empio and I head to Tarak to retake our NEXTs. Tenmei has informed me of his part of the plan. If anyone tries anything stupid you put them down hard! Once the situation is under control, Empio is going to rig the storage hanger door with C4."

Canis commented, "C4? The cutting edge plastic explosive, huh? Nice in bringing those things with you Empio, can't wait for the fireworks display."

Keith continued, "Once we arrive at the target area, be prepared for resistance." The three ships near their destinations.

Empio ordered, "About to enter enemy radar network. Activate your stealth and optical camouflage systems."

Canis replied, "Roger." They flip the switches and their vessels become invisible to the human eye, radar and heat detection systems.

In the Prime Minister's office at Tarak HQ, the Minister gives Tenmei a medal.

He said, "The information you have provided us will prove to be very valuable in the future. I'll have you know Lord Grand Pa is very pleased at your accomplishment."

Tenmei saluted him, "Thank you very much, sir."

"Don't you think you could've done something with you know..." The Prime Minister cried as he looked at Tenmei's breasts with displeasure.

The spy informed, "I'm afraid I cannot until I have been informed that my mission is complete. In other words, I am waiting for your orders, sir." Then he formed a grin, "Why? Don't you like this look?" His superior sweats with uneasiness.

When Tenmei left, the Prime Minister regained his composure and instructed, "Next we must re-educate Bart and Duero they have been in contact with the women. That is not something to be seen in the strong men of Tarak. Also I'll be visiting these 'Armored Cores' that we have received."

Keith and Empio manage to slip through enemy radar and dock in hanger 5B, they exit their ships and find out this hanger had no security cameras but did spot two guards in front of them. They quietly sneak up and then placed a hand over the guards' mouth before driving their knives into their chests, piercing the heart. A minute later they pull their knives out of their chest and drag the lifeless bodies out of sight. Keith and Empio press against the wall, concealing themselves in the shadows.

Keith contacted his friend, "Canis, how's everything on your end?"

Canis whispered, "I managed to slip past the enemy's radar network as well. I just got out of my infiltration ship. I'm getting a signal of Magno's crew thanks to the transmitter I placed behind Jura's left ear. Unfortunately some guards are in front of me but don't worry, I will take care of them before I head to the crew's location."

Keith replied, "Understood, Canis. Remain out of sight, no matter what." They activate their suits' stealth systems, this highly advanced system bends light so the user remains invisible to the naked eye plus it cancels out his/her heat signature so that they are undetectable to heat sensors. Keith pulls out his cloaked M-4. The prison transport ship took its passengers to the prison facility.

Magno and her girls stand in one of the cargo pods. There was a thump as the ship docked with the facility.

Magno asked, "Are you scared, Meia?"

Meia replied, "No."

The pirate leader assured, "Don't try to think about it too much. It's not one of your best habits, you know."

Meia pondered, "I was just wondering what Hibiki would say in this situation."

Magno answered, "I think he would ask the same thing as you would."

Meia smiled, "Right. Nothing escapes you." The guards escort the crew to their cell, along the way they see other convicted female criminals.

One of the prisoners gasped, "Hey, you! You're Magno Vivan, aren't you?" The aged pirate smiled proving it was her the other occupied cells erupt.

A guard demanded, "Shut up all of you! Be quiet!" Inside the Pexis, Hibiki begins to come around after the effects of the sedative wore off though his posterior still hurt.

Hibiki groaned, "Those guys framed me!" Then he noticed that the Pexis started to glow red, "I get it they're coming soon aren't they? Well, it's no use to cower in fear!" He exits the aqua-green sea like place. He wanders the hallways to find the others until Pyoro came into view.

Pyoro informed, "Everyone's been evacuated."

Hibiki asked, "So it's just us, huh? The enemy's approaching! We need to move now."

Pyoro told him, "Barnette put the ship in lockdown mode so the men couldn't do anything to it."

Hibiki growled, "Damn it! She's so sneaky." In the Tarak torture chamber, Bart is getting hit by a whip against his back, the bald helmsman screams in pain.

His torturer said, "Swear your allegiance to Lord Grand Pa!"

Bart refused, "Hell no! No matter how much it hurts, we'll never change our values!" His tormentor whips him again.

Duero groaned, "Bart!"

The other tormentor said, "If you're really a man, you would help him. Just say 'All hail Lord Grand Pa.' It only takes those words to stop the pain."

Duero rebelled, "Women are nothing like you say there are! They are really wonderful. It is you who has been blinded." Suddenly Tenmei walks in.

He asked, "How are they holding up?"

One of the tormentors answered, "Pretty stubborn. They've been thoroughly contaminated by the women, sir." The spy walks up to the injured Bart.

Duero asked, "Are you going to sell us out and get yourself another medal?"

Tenmei ordered, "Give it to me. Let me do the honors." The tormentor hands over the whip, "Now let me show you how to properly use a whip!" Bart braces himself for the impact but Tenmei whipped the two punishers. It was a ruse!

Bart wondered, "Huh?"

Tenmei tosses the awarded medal off his chest and looked at Duero, "It's annoying! I've got enough bouncing around on my chest as it is! Now let's go, Hibiki is waiting."

Keith and Empio finally make their way towards the storage hanger and they see the Prime Minister with a squadron of soldiers and engineers with him. They observe the NEXTs with great interest. Hidden behind his helmet's visor, Empio smirked as he witnessed that the engineers couldn't crack the security system or the firewall. He looks at Keith and the American nods, signifying it's time to retrieve Black Dragon, Savage Beast and Transcend. Empio pulls out his pistol.

They storm into the hanger and deactivate their stealth systems to make their presence known.

Keith shouted, "None of you fucking folks move! Get on the floor!" They point their weapons at the men to prove that they are serious.

Empio added, "No one is going to get a medal for being the hero, all you'll get is a bullet through the heart!"

Keith ordered an engineer, "You, open the door."

His friend yelled, "Open the door!"

Noticing that the engineer wasn't doing what he was told Keith aims his M-4 at the Prime Minister, "Open the goddamn door!" That got the engineer's attention and he opened the door. Keith instructed, "Get on the floor now!"

The engineer protested, "But sir..."

The rank 1 Lynx fired back, "You too! We mean business so if you don't want your brains staining these walls then do what I say!" Empio heads over to place the plastic explosive and sets the timer.

Once that was done he walked back over to Keith and informed, "The C4 has been molded and set to explode in 1 minute." The two pilots watch over the hostages as the timer counts down to the C4's detonation.

One of the soldiers try to play Mr. Hero and fires at the two pilots the bullet passes by Keith's visor, this caused them to fire back.

Keith shouted, "We told you not to fuck with us!" He and Empio unload on the soldier and his brains splatter over the walls. Keith turned to the others, "Who else wants to play Mr. Hero?" The C4 detonates but by some miracle the door remains intact.

Using the opportunity given by this distraction, the Prime Minister sounds the alarm and orders his men to kill them. Blast doors close over the main ones leading to the NEXTs.

Frustrated by this unexpected turn of events, Keith and Empio prepare for a tough fight with enemy reinforcements. Seeing that an engineer has been left behind Keith directs him to the computer console and orders him to override the blast doors. 2 minutes later Empio spots the Tarak reinforcements.

He said, "We got company, Keith!" The American tells the engineer to continue overriding the blast doors. The two unload at their attackers.

Keith sets his M-4 to full automatic mode and lethal 5.56x45mm bullets came flying out of the barrel and screams of agony can be heard. One bullet penetrates a soldier's skull and comes out through the other end, spraying blood everywhere and onto his fellow comrades. Keith begins trash talking his foes.

He cursed, "You women hating bastards! Screw you all!"

Empio threw in his own verbal abuse, "I'm not going to jail on this planet! Go back home to your kids you don't want to die here, pricks!" Keith pulls the pen off one of his plasma grenades and throws the weapon at a group of enemies the Tarak soldiers look down and could only gasp before the plasma grenade explodes in a sphere of superheated flames if Keith and Empio had their helmets off right now they would be overwhelmed by the sickening scent of burning skin and hair. The soldiers' scream of anguish filled their ears,

Empio spots a tank rolling in with a garrison of sword wielding Tarak soldiers behind it Empio aims his RPG at the tank and the vessel explodes in a shower of flames and shattered metal. The sword wielders draw their blades and close in on their prey.

Grinning at this Keith puts the M-4 away and unsheathes his katana. The two forces clashed and Keith proved to be the more skilled user, a bloodbath unfolds as one by one the enemy fell to Keith's merciless assault, he wipes his sword clean of blood before putting it in its sheath again. An invisible wiper removes blood from Keith's visor. The engineer tells them that the blast doors have been overridden and main doors as well.

Empio's gesture of appreciation was filling the poor guy with lead to prevent him from talking to his superiors. The two climb into their respective NEXTs and deactivate the security system and firewall then powered them up. Savage Beast activates on its own Keith takes one last look at the carnage he and his partner caused bodies lie everywhere in various states of dismemberment some had heads missing, cut in two and others were more gruesome. They take off and head into space.

In the Mejale prison facility Canis got onto the floor where Magno and the girls were. He remained cloaked as this place had more guards than anywhere else. He kills one guard by severing her head from her body. Noticing that the lights are dimming Canis activates his helmet's night vision then draws his suppressed M-16A3 and sets it to semi-automatic mode, meaning it fires rounds in bursts. He loads a full cartridge of 5.56x45mm bullets into his rifle. He takes position on a skywalk as he points his weapon at a group of guards. He pulls the trigger and the bullets come flying out of the barrel at high-speed, the foolish guards had no idea what came hurtling at them until it was too late. The only thing they felt was a fast moving projectile passing through their skulls before they collapse to the ground bleeding from their fatal wounds. Canis snipes a few more before he moves on toward the prison cells on this floor. When he reached Magno and the girls' cell an alarm sounds throughout the facility, he first thought that he was somehow detected but soon discovers that another squadron of Dreads have attacked the outer defenses, he sees a huge swarm of armed guards approaching him but he pulls out the kusarigama.

He points the Kama sickle at the nearing hostiles, with a silent war cry Canis charges forward swinging the sickle. The only sound that filled the facility was screams of sheer agony, blood gushing everywhere, bones cracking and flesh being ripped apart.

Magno and the girls hear the screams and it sent chills down their spines, however their attention is drawn to a group of suited visitors at the entrance to their cell. They take off their suits.

One wore a decorative dress, blue-green hair that went down to the middle of her back.

The other was a Dread pilot wearing the same flight suit that Meia does but hers had a pinkish tint and brown to it, she had blood red hair and extremely tanned skin.

One said, "Captain!"

Magno smiled, "You certainly took your time getting here."

Dita stated, "It's the girls who stayed behind in the camp!"

Ezra recognized the first one, "Rebecca!"

Rebecca came toward the bridge bunny, "Ezra! Huh, who's that?"

Ezra presented her baby, "Look, Serena. Say hello to your Ohma!" Rebecca smiled warmly at the sight of the infant. Too excited about the reunion they drop their guard and this allowed one armed female soldier to run toward them, the group brace themselves but all of a sudden they hear her choking against a metal chain wrapped around her throat, with a powerful yank the head comes flying off. The group looked to see a blood drenched, cloaked kusarigama. They thought they were next but that was swept aside as they see the weapon being put away and its wielder turns off his stealth system.

Canis said, "Hey, girls. What's up?"

Barnette gasped, "Canis!"

The NEXT pilot smiled, "The one and only. Now let's get you girls out of that filthy cell." He shoots the door panel to make the cell door open up and Canis is immediately enveloped in a hug from Barnette which he returns. However they both knew this emotional stuff will have to wait; they still have a war to win.

Magno ordered, "We need to take back the Nirvana."

Rebecca wondered, "The Nirvana?"

Magno smirked, "It's a ship like no other."

Keith came over Canis' helmet radio, "Canis, we've retrieved our NEXTs and are in space but the pesky Tarak fleet is preventing us from returning to the Nirvana. We may be arriving later than I planned so I have sent Savage Beast to your location it should be there at any moment. We'll be back as soon as possible. Empio, watch out!" The sound of explosions and gunfire can be heard in the background.

Canis ordered, "Let's get going now." He hops into Savage Beast and led the others back to their ship.

The Pexis frees the Nirvana from its imprisonment, and it begins to head for safer space with Black Dragon and Transcend covering it. A pair of Vanguards home in from their 6 o'clock.

Keith cursed, "Jesus Christ! Can't these guys stop shooting at us already? They should be more focused on preparing for Earth's attack!" The 07-Moonlight beam saber is ignited and Black Dragon eviscerates the Vanguards, the two NEXTs activate their overed boosters to leave the area. They finally dock with the Nirvana.

The main door opens and Dita spots Hibiki eating the bento she made for him.

Dita said, "Mr. Alien!"

Hibiki greeted, "Hey, how's it going?"

The redhead furthered, "You're eating that?"

Hibiki licked any remains off his finger, "Can't fight on an empty stomach and besides this stuff isn't bad half cold!" Dita says she'll make more.

Jura asked, "Geez, what's with that?"

Pyoro sees the baby, "Pyoro 2!"

He is stopped by Rebecca's hand as she wondered, "So what the heck is this old thing?"

Pyoro fired back, "I'm Pyoro 2's father."

Rebecca growled, "What the hell is Pyoro 2?"

The white robot exclaimed, "Pyoro 2's my baby!" He feels another hand grab him and throws him into the wall.

Keith scolded, "Pyoro, what did I say about calling Serena that? This is your last warning! Call Serena by her real name or I'll reprogram you into a frog!" He hears Misty complain about having a prison record and she's not even from Mejale. He said, "Quit your bellyaching, Misty!"

Hibiki demanded, "Just type the password in already!"

Barnette said, "You don't know? It's a motto we all know." She types in the password into her hand held data pad, "See?" She shows it to him. It displayed 'Smile.'

Hibiki growled, "Always cheesy lines!"

Meia approached him, "Stop complaining. Let's go, are you ready?" Hibiki nods his head but then noticed something.

He asked, "Hey Keith, what happened to your suit?"

Keith looked at his blood stained g-suit, "Let's just say those Tarak bastards didn't comply with our demands to hand over our NEXTs peacefully so we had to retaliate with violence. I don't want to go into detail about the bloodbath that went down." Keith, Canis and Empio return to Keith's room and put their weapons back into the safes then proceed to give their NEXTs a fresh coat of paint. The bridge bunnies sit in their respective bridge consoles. The radar picks up a pod approaching and occupants exit.

A bandaged Bart enters the bridge and apologizes for being late before saluting the pirate leader and entering the helm.

Magno notices Tenmei's presence.

She said, "Are you going to run away? I don't recall relieving you as commander. I assume you'll return to us as Buzam?"

Tenmei walked out the shadows, "Then does this mean you'll forgive me?"

Magno said, "Whether you are forgiven or not is unimportant, however..." She looks at him sternly before smiling, "Could you please go back to the voice you were using?"

Realzing what she meant, Tenmei smiled, "Very well, I understand." He touches the voice changer, turning it back to green as he resumed the identity of BC again.

Ezra asked, "Well, commander where to?"

BC nodded before throwing away the Tarak military uniform to show the same stylish female clothing she had on underneath.

She said, "All crewmembers give me a full diagnostics of the ship! Bart set for course 524!"

Bart sniffed before replying, "Roger that!" He, like everyone else was glad that the commander was back another wave of pain strikes Magno's heart as she leaned forward clenching it.

She said to the crew dispite the pain, "Listen up, everyone! No matter how hard the situation may get, don't even think about taking the easy way out we still got a bright future ahead of us! The decisive battle is upon us."

Keith decided to join in, "It's time for the reunification of the two genders! Men and women have been away from each other for more than a century, which to me is far too long. It's time for Tarak and Mejale to put their differences aside and work together. This final battle is what will determine the fate of all life as we know it, we must not fail! We'll win this war!" The entire crew cheered in unison to agree with declaration.

Keith sends one more message to Earth.

In this message Black Dragon stood in front of Harvest ships burning in the background, the bright flames made the NEXT a towering shadow with only its red eyes as any indication of its presence.

One council member said, "What now?" A dark, maniacal laughter is heard and the Earth Council understood who that laughter belonged to.

Keith stated, "Harvesters, your day of judgment has come! You've slaughtered billions of innocent people and you say this is for the best of Earth, what you need to realize fools is that you don't control our lives. We don't need to listen to you! Earth is not eternal it will die just like everything else does all you're doing is delaying the inevitablel. I can assure you that my allies and I will give you a huge devastating defeat with humiliation served on the side. You have plagued this universe for far too long, you must be extinguished. Why don't you try and imagine what those last few breaths of air will taste like. Try and imagine what it would be like watching your fleet being ripped apart by your enemies and also try to imagine what it'd be like to burn away into nothingness. Earth, your worst nightmare has come true because the Demons of Hell have reunited stronger than the last time! You will never rest...in...peace!" A lightning bolt strikes a holographic image of Earth and the planet is set ablaze. Some members look away as they watched the holographic image of their dying planet burn.

In the Nirvana's garden, Keith and Canis are currently meditating. Not only have they been doing physical training but also mental. Their eyes were rolled back, demon teeth were visible and they had auras surrounding them. Keith's was a menacing red aura and Canis' was a dark orange. They stop their mental exercise and the auras disappear as they regained their human features.

They both rise to their feet and walk to the hanger to board their NEXTs.

Keith said, "Hey, Canis?"

His friend replied, "Yes?"

Keith implied, "Have you made your decision on staying in this alternate universe or not?"

Canis nodded, "Yes, I have. I was planning on telling Barnette after this war."

Keith smiled, "So have I. I will tell Meia after this battle. It's time for the Demons of Hell to rise up once again and wreak havoc upon our enemies."

A/N: Chapter 12 complete. Whew, took me a while to write this. Hope I didn't make it too graphic, just enough to satisfy you readers. I didn't want you to think I am a sadistic author, it's not part of my personality.

Anyways the final battle is upon Keith and the Nirvana crew.

Oh yeah, the 'rest in peace' phrase, that's a line I took from my favorite WWE Superstar, the Undertaker. I couldn't resist. Hearing him just saying those three words is absolutely bone-chilling!

Read and review.

Stick around for chapter 13.

Vader 23A


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Final Battle, Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Onboard the Nirvana, the crew prepares for the decisive battle with Earth. The engineers work on the Dreads for tuning or inspection and Reg workers load the weapons.

Canis looks up at his NEXT, Savage Beast he recalls how many lives he took during the Economic War though in that conflict he didn't have much choice in the matter. It was either follow the client's orders or face execution! Canis remembers the mission where Keith and Katrina were sent to stop a group of terrorists from bombing an airport but he noticed that another terrorist squad was plotting to blow up a city with a 10 kiloton tactical nuclear weapon in the back of a van. The American was stuck between the airport and the city but he knew if either one of these attacks were successful it would mean extensive property damage and loss of life. Ultimately Keith and his mentor chose the city because if that nuke went off a good portion of the city would be vaporized and the resulting radiation fallout would persist for up to 3 days or more, adding more to the death toll. He made the terrorists stop the van and ordered them to disarm that weapon of mass destruction. The fools refused at first but Katrina fired a round from her pistol near their feet, the terrorists obeyed and deactivated the nuke, later that day they were arrested and the bomb disassembled in a warehouse for nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. They next focused on the airport and thwarted that attack too when they returned to base, they were immediately ordered to the commander's office for their personal debriefing. Safe to say, Keith didn't like it. This is what sparked his hatred toward the League and their ways. In his eyes they were nothing but egotistical and power hungry lunatics who know nothing about respecting life.

Canis can hear Barnette walking up to him so he turns to face her.

Barnette asked, "Scared, Canis?"

Canis nodded, "Hell yeah. Planet Earth has become an evil, twisted shadow of its former self, Barnette though I never imagined that my home world would change this drastically in just a century!" The current Reg leader can see the anger and sadness in her lover's eyes, it broke her heart when she witnessed Keith and Canis' expression when they heard of Earth's terrifying transformation from a beautiful planet with two-thirds of its surface covered with water, an atmosphere, polar ice caps, continents, and many forms of life to a hideous green acidic, virtually lifeless planet covered by a web of ugly machinery on its face.

Barnette wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a seductive gaze, "If we make it through this final battle, my love I will give you a night you'll never forget."

The NEXT pilot understood what that meant.

Canis smiled, "You can be quite the seductress sometimes, my dear. I have something to say to you after this war is over."

Barnette tilted her head, "Oh, and what would that be?"" She pressed her body against his.

Canis shook his index finger, "Uh-ah! I will not spoil the surprise, Barnette. You're going have to wait." The Reg leader playfully pouted at that and the young Lynx couldn't help but laugh at that facial expression. He gives her a passionate kiss before giving her a genuine smile as he hugged her, stroking her dark green hair.

In the hanger Hibiki is doing an inspection on his Vanguard when he heard footsteps coming at his direction. He looks up to see BC.

She said, "You look a lot different now."

Hibiki rubbed the back of his head, "Oh stop. Flattering isn't going to get you anywhere." Just as the sub-captain prepared to leave Hibiki stopped her, "Hey, I wanted to say thank you. I mean when I fought in this Vanguard during my first battle. I was acting foolish and didn't how to find proof of my existence but then you opened my eyes and I ceased being a brash, reckless loser."

BC smiled, "You can take my word for it. You've done plenty to prove the existence of Hibiki Tokai." Hibiki smiled at that.

Dita is busy working on her Dread when Misty decided to pay her a visit.

She rode a hover up to Dita's level and said, "Dita."

Dita exclaimed, "Hey, Misty!"

Misty said, "I believe it was time that I gave some encouragement."

The redhead smiled, "Thank you."

Misty asked, "Are you scared?"

Dita shook her head, "Not at all because I'm with Mr. Alien!"

The dark blue-haired teen smiled sheepishly, "I can't compete with feelings like that."

Dita went on, "I think Mr. Alien is really amazing! Mostly because he makes mistakes and gets mad about it but that what makes him better. Whenever I'm with him my heart won't stop racing and that drives me to do my best!" Misty smiled at the confession. Jura and Meia watch the scene nearby on the hanger floor.

Jura groaned, "Sheesh, does she have to keep saying such childish things?"

Meia wondered, "You don't want her to change do you?"

Jura replied, "You are starting to sound more and more like Hibiki." The Dread leader lets out a small laugh.

In the infirmary Paiway was contemplating on doing a Pai check or not. She soon decides not to.

Duero saw this and asked her, "What's the matter, Paiway?"

"I've decided to stop doing Pai checks on everyone, ribbit." The young nurse said through frog hand puppet.

Duero smiled, "I see."

Paiway lowered the puppet to show a little blush on her face as she admitted, "I think it's about time that I started thinking a little about myself."

The doctor said, "That's good. I felt the same way when I first met everyone." Paiway stuck out her tongue in a playful matter.

Keith does a quick system check on Black Dragon after he put his cleaned g-suit on. He washed it after the mission to retrieve their NEXTs. At the moment he is bare of his helmet and he even asked Parfet to fix it, which didn't take long to fix the crack on the left side of it. Conflicting emotions rage within him. One, he knows that this final battle is what will determine the outcome of this war. Two, he is sad because this is his and his fellow NEXT pilots' home world they are fighting after all. And three, he prays that Mejale and Tarak will work together and the genders co-exist once more. He didn't let these thoughts distract him from the task at hand. On the bridge Magno looks at the various monitors displaying the crew getting ready for the battle.

She ordered, "BC, I think it's time for you to open a certain circuit…to both the leaders of the men and women!"

BC replied, "You mean to Grand Ma and Grand Pa."

On Tarak Hibiki's grandpa makes his way into the council chamber where members of the Tarak Council including Lord Grand Pa himself were at. He shows them a pot with a sprouting plant, proving that something was starting to grow despite the harsh conditions on the planet. The members were unimpressed at first but then the old man questioned the decision of separating the two genders.

Soon Grand Ma appears on another monitor. It seems that she and Grand Pa knew each since they called one another by their real names. Grand Ma's name is Anri and Grand Pa's name was Zen.

Soon after Magno appears a third screen.

Anri said, "So you must be Magno of the space pirates."

The visitor looked at the old pirate, "Magno? Why it is little Magno! I remember playing with you in our younger days, oh brings back so many memories."

Magno smiled, "Uncle Jin. I'm glad to see that you remember. I recall the days when we played on the ship."

Anri asked, "What would the leader of the Mejalian space pirates want?"

Mango smirked, "I'm one of the first generation, aren't I? I figured that I'd give my two cents as well in the decision."

Zen informed, "We have already made the final decision and it took a full 100 years to set things in motion. The case is closed!"

The Nirvana captain's face grew serious, "All good for you but it can't be said the same about the youngsters who have to live in that dull future." Ultimately Hibiki appears on a monitor inside his Vanguard. He started to give a morale speech that somehow put the two planets' differences aside.

The Pexis shines brightly.

Parfet looked at it with awe, "Wow! He hasn't done anything yet but everyone's all in a good mood. You're going to fight alongside us right, Pexis?"

Hibiki announced, "Let's go!" The three Armored Cores get into position for takeoff. The catapults slide under their feet, locking into place. The boosters roar to life.

Keith went first, "Keith Oswell in Black Dragon, taking off!" He heads out.

Canis cried, "Canis, Savage Beast, launching!" The pilot joins his friend in space.

Empio declared, "Dario Empio. Transcend, heading out!" The dark red over blue-gray NEXT meets the others.

Hibiki said, "We need to strike first."

Dita cried, "Combine!" The Dread and Vanguard combine to form Vandread Dita. The machine is shocking to both planets.

'Magno, I'm beginning to understand why you told me to open my eyes.' Anri thought.

On the Nirvana's bridge the radar picks up a ship's signature.

Belvedere informed, "Captain, Rebecca's ship Paraiso is approaching."

Magno ordered, "You guys should go back to the hideout now."

Rebecca came up on a monitor and told the aged pirate, "I can't do that! And besides I'll most likely get lectured for abandoning the elderly."

The pirate leader chuckled, "I see that you've used constructed use of my absence to develop an insolent tongue."

Rebecca replied, "Things do change when you become a parent." She gives the old woman a wink. A nearby Tarak ship hears the transmission.

The bridge operator said, "The Ikazuchi has made contact with the pirate ship, sir." The Dreads form up.

Meia commanded, "All units assume battle formation delta with Vandread Dita in the center." She then spots a Dread from a different squadron, "Hey, Valore the enemy's really agile. It'd be best to back away."

Valore wondered, "Oh? And when did you start ordering me around?"

A Dread pilot agreed, "That's right. It's about time we showed you what we can do these days!" The Reg delivery ship enters the battlefield.

Jura raised an eyebrow, "You too, Barnette?"

Barnette explained, "There are going to be deli orders anyway so I figured that I might as well start here."

Pyoro thought otherwise, "Or maybe you just made an excuse to fight."

Barnette winked, "Behind the scenes people can pull their weight too, you know?" Then Keith's HMD in his helmet picks up a signature. When it came within visual range, the crew recognized its shape.

Belvedere said, "Unknown signature confirmed. There's no question, it is a Harvest flagship."

BC exclaimed, "Impossible! How did they manage to get this close without being detected?"

Celtic pointed out, "From what I can tell is that they somehow got the Nirvana's identification code, which delayed our detection of it."

Canis took a closer inspection of it and notices that this flagship was colored orange and wasn't attacking. He couldn't help but feel that something was amiss here.

Barnette breaks off from the formation.

Jura asked, "Barnette, where are you going?"

Barnette commanded, "All ships follow my lead. I'll take care of them!"

A voice said, "Well well, still the same hothead, huh Barnette? Didn't I tell you that is a bad habit?"

Barnette gasped, "That voice!" She stops the ship, "It can't be!"

'You gotta be shitting me! How did she survive that crash?' Canis screamed in his head.

Celtic said, "It is Ms. Gasco!"

The original Reg leader came up on the screen and growled, "Listen up, my name is not Gasco! It's Gascogne!"

Ezra giggled, "That's Ms. Gasco alright."

Magno cried in astonishment, "I'm surprised you made it."

Gascogne admitted, "I didn't want to come back empty handed but my little souvenir here was quite large so it held me back. It was a real pain getting the self-repair system back up and running but it's mighty cute once you tamed it." She lifts up her left arm and two miniature cube-types message it. Gascogne gave them a thumbs-up with her trademark smirk. She boards the Nirvana and enters Reg Central to see all the stage hands there.

They said, "Welcome back!" They break into two lines until Gascogne came face to face with Barnette.

Gascogne commented, "Looks like you did an excellent job while I was away. I'll take things from here; you just go on out there and give them hell."

Barnette smiled as she headed for the door but then stopped, "Ms. Gasco, thank you for staying alive." The tall woman gave the brunette a friendly smile.

Barnette adorns her jewel clip and revealing violet outfit and heads out in her Dread, "Sorry to keep you waiting! It's been way too long since I fought in this craft so let's do this!"

Dita said, "Hey, Barnette! You look better with that on!"

Another familiar voice comes over the radio, "Righty right. I knew that there was going to be an interesting battle."

Hibiki wondered, "Rabat?"

The former trader's face appeared on screen, "Thanks to all the markers you laid out for us, you might find a few spectators." Utan and a few of the natives from the desert planet that Hibiki was on accompanied him. Patch and Liz show up as well as Liz gives the pirates a wink.

Belvedere said, "Captain, another fleet is approaching. It's right behind Rabat's group?"

Magno wondered, "Another fleet?" The ships are from a familiar planet.

The captain of the lead ship announced, "Greetings. This is the anti-Earth fleet of Melanus! We have come to prove our friendship for Hibiki Tokai!"

Hibiki mumbled, "Melanus."

BC explained, "That's the star system that has been targeted for skin harvesting by Earth. The squadron that saved Hibiki was destroyed."

Magno admired, "They've come to reclaim the spirit of their fallen comrades." Keith, Canis and Empio watch as their group of allies continue to grow.

The commander of the Tarak announced, "This is the Todoroki, flagship of an ex-Tarak fleet. We've agreed with your mission objectives and would like to join forces!"

A Vanguard pilot added, "Ahoy there. This is General Ozeki Kyunmel. Commander of the Gale Squadron, a group of attack Vanguards we'd like have the honor to be the first to attack." His blue Vanguard spins its glaive above its head before striking a ninja-like pose with its right hand near the face. The Nirvana bridge bunnies look at the sight.

Misty gave a comical expression, "Men are all so dumb." Empio heard that comment and a tick mark appeared on his head.

'You better watch your mouth, girl or I'll rip your head off!' He warned mentally.

A Mejale fleet shows up.

The captain said, "This is the Mejale Border Guard here. May we offer assistance as well?"

Ezra smiled, "Wow, they're coming out of the woodwork! Hibiki's speech changed something inside of them." The leaders of both Tarak and Mejale look on at this build up of fleets.

Anri gasped, "There's so many of them all in response to Hibiki's call!"

Zen gave in, "I guess it really is out of our hands now." The Nirvana's radar picks up three Harvest flagships.

Belvedere cried, "The markers are responding. Three ships are clearing the magnetic storm!" Suddenly Keith's face appeared.

He declared, "The outcome of the war rests with us so stay focused on what's at hand. Remember survival is paramount! Good luck to all of us! This will be Earth's last stand so let's give them a beating they will remember all the way to their grave! Let's blow them to hell!"

One enemy flagship approaches the minefield, sensing its presence the mines attack and destroyed the flagship. The two other ships stay on course. Behind them lied an armada of Harvest vessels, the cube-types combine to form Fakedread Dita, Meia and Jura.

Dita groaned, "Not the fakes again!"

Seeing this Ozeki grinned, "Look at them all. I guess it's a good day to die!" He easily manhandles Fakedread Jura and commanded his wingmen to follow him.

Hibiki said, "This time Earth must not win!" Vandread Dita fires back mounted laser cannons at a pair of Harvest units.

Black Dragon pulls out the 07-Moonlight beam saber in preparation for battle.

Meia ordered, "Launch the attack!" She gets a 'roger' from all of the Dread pilots.

Gascogne releases the Seed Ships from her re-built Harvest flagship in return the Seed Ships unleash their payload of cube-types. They destroy Fakedread Meia. Black Dragon and the other two NEXTs destroy several Arms Forts then a swarm of giant MTs appear.

Black Dragon arms all of its ranged weaponry and opens fire, the barrage trashes the behemoths.

_"I do not know where I'll arrive at  
I believe I'll reach there, I'll let my thoughts run for now_

_The form of the heart and this path changes  
But there is a wish that never disappears_

_Seeing a different dream, looking at the same sky  
That day I swore "I will not lose"_

_Our hands will always be joined  
As we search for the reason to exist._

_I do not know where I'll arrive at  
I believe I'll reach there, I'll let my thoughts run for now  
The time when I get over my mistakes and pain  
My wish would be embraced by light, calling out the future_

Rabat watches the battle.

He commented, "Wow! They sure know how to put on a good show, don't they?" Utan begs him to let her join in but he said, "No. Not yet, okay?" Another part of the Harvest armada nears the Nirvana and its fleet of allied ships.

Bart screamed, "Man! If the enemy's coming straight at you then dodge it!" The Nirvana and its allied ships fire their cannons and annihilate the enemy.

Savage Beast combines with Barnette's Dread to create Black Demon. The NEXT switches to the WHEELING-03 multi-chain missile launcher and unleashes a barrage at an incoming Stigro Arms Forts and destroys it before the AF can deploy its large twin blades on its bow.

Vandread Dita destroys a Red Nirvana but another comes up behind them and charges up its chest beam cannon, however it didn't get the chance to fire because it gets attack by Meia, Valore and Empio.

Dita exclaimed, "Thanks, you guys!"

Valore told the Dread leader, "Still a headache as always, Meia."

Meia replied, "Well thank you but yours is more annoying!"

Valore blinked, "Hold up did you just laugh?" Jura's Dread and Black Demon appear.

Jura informed, "You see we're all different people from what we used to be."

The Dread pilot wondered, "Is that because of the men?"

The blonde answered, "Well I wouldn't say that."

Barnette teased, "Better watch out or I'll leave you behind!"

_A lonely cloud flows in the wind  
Can you feel its loneliness wherever you are?_

_We hurt each other to protect the dreams  
We will start walking with our backs to each other_

_Whenever it is I will understand  
To believe in the same feelings_

_In confusion and fear I flap my wings  
The beat wavers still I won't give up on the dreams  
I confront the darkness and loneliness  
I move with the must to convey the joy of meeting you_

_I do not know where I'll arrive at  
I believe I'll reach there, I'll let my thoughts run for now  
I leave my mistakes and pain  
These same skies that... will head towards you and remain"_

Keith and Canis work together as they take out a Spirit of Motherwill. They dissect it by first destroying the missile launchers, then the large cannons, after that the runway-like decks and finally the legs. Black Dragon fires its rail guns at full power at the AF's power generator before they pull away to avoid being caught in the explosion. The blast lights up the background, the eyes of Black Dragon and Black Demon glow fiercely making them truly look like demons. Noticing that the ammunition on his NEXT's weapons was running low Keith calls Gascogne for a re-supply. The Reg leader said she's on her way, in no time she arrives in her delivery ship.

The grappling arms secure themselves on Black Dragon as the re-supplying commenced Canis and Barnette guard him until the procedure was complete. A short while later the weapons are fully reloaded.

Gascogne said, "Re-supply complete, Keith. You're good to go." A warning alarm blares in Black Dragon's cockpit as Keith's HMD detected four enemy signatures.

Canis grinned, "And just in time, too. Gascogne you better get out of here, this fight is going to get really messy!" The grappling arms release Black Dragon and the delivery ship retreats.

Black Demon defuses and Canis told Barnette that she should leave this fight to the pilots the brunette obeyed his request and left them to do battle with the enemy.

Keith gets a visual from his NEXT's monitor and smiled, "Well, well, it's Otsdarva, Lilium Wolcott, Wynne D. Fanchon, and Roadie." The four enemy NEXTs close in at high-speed.

Keith and Canis both fought and defeated Stasis, Ambient, Feedback, and Reiterpallasch. All of these pilots were Collared's former top four ranked Lynx. The hostiles stop and glare at the two NEXTs.

Lilium said, "This is the end of the road for you! I think you understand why."

Roadie added, "It is what it is. Your actions were clearly deliberate. There's no point in trying to reason with you!"

Otsdarva stated coldly, "Maybe they're just animals. Can't they even understand what we're saying?" Black Dragon pulls out the 07-Moonlight beam saber and extends the heat whip.

Keith shook his head, "What Katrina and I did was to ensure mankind's existence by colonizing other worlds. The League said they were leading Earth down the road of peace but they were afraid of something that their arrogance wouldn't allow them to admit. Before the National Dismantlement War took place, corporations fought for the last frontier, outer space. As the fighting became more intense, they built unmanned weapons known as Assault Cells to block one another's attempt to reach space. Over time Earth's orbit was crowded with the Assault Cells and this blocked mankind's advance to the stars. Everyone knew what the National Dismantlement War and Kojima technology did to the environment but the League used us to establish their damn rule on the planet. In my opinion they were drunk with power. Line Ark and even the ORCA brigade knew that a world ruled by the League was doomed. That's the reason Katrina and I joined Thermidor and his men, his objective was to purge the sins of the corporations and clear mankind's path to space, I treasured life but not in the way the League saw it. And Fanchon you really thought that Katrina and I would simply lay down our lives and just let you stop us like you did with Thermidor? Well, I made my own decision and destroyed your NEXT!"

Canis declared, "You would never stop with us, Keith and I will take all four of you on!" Savage Beast draws its own beam saber.

Keith targets Stasis and Feedback while Canis busies himself with Ambient and Reiterpallasch. Stasis fires its missiles but Black Dragon just evades them. Feedback shoots its dual bazooka arms at the black NEXT and again Black Dragon evades them, with determination and desire for peace and co-existence flowing through their veins, Keith and Canis had no intention of dying here.

Black Dragon wraps the heat whip around one of Feedback's bazooka arms and pulls real hard causing it to tear off.

Roadie taunted, "Weak, pathetic waste of metal!"

Keith fired back, "Junkyard crap!" The heat whip slams against the enemy NEXT's core part, sparks and pieces of armor fly everywhere.

Meanwhile, Vandread Dita and the others just got done destroying a pair of cube-types.

Meia ordered, "Ignore the small fry. Go for the flagship!"

Hibiki replied, "Right!" The Vanguard fuses with Meia's Dread to create Vandread Meia.

Valore exclaimed, "Awesome, even Meia?"

Jura said with a confident voice, "You haven't seen the meanest looking one yet. Wait until you get a load of it."

Pyoro wondered, "Hold on a minute. Whoever said it was the worst one?"

Jura looked at him and growled, "Zip it!" BC watched the battle going on and commented over the change of the crew and said that they've got a bright future ahead of them. The Nirvana's radar picks up another enemy signature.

Belvedere said, "Another enemy ship is appearing out of the magnetic storm!"

BC asked, "What is it?"

Rabat answered, "The Big Boy's here! That thing is not a Harvest flagship, that one is used for destroying planets that are no longer of any use to them!"

'The Big Boy, what the hell is that?' Empio thought.

The new enemy vessel appears and its design was different.

Meia said, "There it is."

Hibiki smirked, "So that's the top dog? It doesn't look so tough." Next, Vandread Jura forms.

Valore looked at its appearance, "Oh man, how ugly!"

Jura shouted, "Oh, shut up! Form up, everyone! We're going to break right through!" Suddenly the outer coverings of the enemy ship open up to reveal an enormous beam cannon, it charges up and fires a crimson beam.

Meia cried, "Evasive action!" Too late the beam hits Vandread Jura and the attack is so powerful it overwhelms the shields and forces the Vandread to defuse.

Barnette asked her friend, "Jura, are you okay?"

Jura replied, "Yeah, somehow."

Hibiki cursed, "Damn you! This thing's powerful!"

Pyoro announced, "Now it's time for Vandread Pyoro!"

Hibiki told the white robot, "That's a dumb name!" The three Dreads and Vanguard fuse to create Super Vandread (yes, they can still form the machine even without Black Dragon). The machine draws its sword and slices a few enemy units before transforming into its flight mode to evade enemy fire. Suddenly the Big Boy fires another round from its beam cannon.

Jura said, "You get out of our way, fiend!" She slams her fist onto the control console in front of her and fires Super Vandread's own beam weapon. Aqua-green and crimson lasers collide and battle for dominance until the two beams exploded. Super Vandread changes back into its robot form. Jura wondered if that did it. When the smoke cleared, it was evident that some damage had been inflicted on the planet destroyer.

Back with Keith and Canis, the two were holding their own against four enemy NEXTs.

Canis manages to wipe out Ambient and was currently locked in a beam saber fight with Reiterpallasch. The tan colored Armored Core attemptes to launch a horizontal slash on its opponent but is blocked by Savage Beast's beam saber, now it was Canis' turn to strike. Savage Beast kicks Reiterpallasch in the gut and then cuts off the right arm. The two continue to go at it to rip each other apart.

Keith activates his NEXT's super mode, Dragon's Rage. The armor plating on the shoulders point out diagonally, the armor coverings over the mouth separate and settle on the sides of the mouth to show razor-sharp mechanical teeth and the wings on Black Dragon's back deploy and orange colored dragon wings come out. Otsdarva and Roadie are taken back by the sight.

Keith said, "What? Surprised that my Armored Core has the ability to transform? You better be because my NEXT has gained other abilities!" The chest plating opens up and Keith fired Inferno Cry, the beam of orange hellfire vaporizes Feedback, the chest plating closes after that. Stasis shoots its assault rifle at the approaching Armored Core but is deflected by its Primal Armor. Black Dragon slices Stasis' assault rifle in half and the weapon explodes. Distracted by this, Otsdarva fails to notice Black Dragon powering up its Assault Armor while holding onto his machine. Within a second the sphere of destruction detonates, blowing Stasis to smithereens.

Canis blocks another attack from Wynn D. Fanchon, and the female Lynx becomes frustrated and this causes Canis to grin. Savage Beast unleashes a brutal kick onto Reiterpallasch and knocks it back then Savage Beast puts the beam saber away and places its hands by its right hip. Canis summons his dark orange aura and that energy collects into a black, purple outlined sphere of destructive power.

Canis mocked, "Take this, bitch Dark Lightning Ball!" Savage Beast thrusts its arms forward and throws the Dark Lightning Ball at the tan NEXT; the attack's immense pressure causes Reiterpallasch to implode in on itself before the energy causes it to explode from an energy overload.

Fanchon cursed, "Damn you, Demons of Hell!" Canis' aura dies down but didn't have time to react as an unknown Armored Core appeared out of nowhere accompanied by 70 prototype NEXTs that were being developed by a former corporation known as Rayleonard during the Lynx War but it collapsed when the conflict ended.

The unknown NEXT had Black Dragon's body frame but had twin Gatling guns on both of its arms, a ZINC Kojima missile launcher for the right back unit and a grenade cannon for the left.

With speed rivaling that of Black Dragon in the Dragon's Rage mode it fired its arm weapons at Savage Beast. Several rounds of lethal bullets tear into its armor, after a minute the enemy stops firing.

Keith rushed to his friend's aid.

Keith asked, "Canis are you okay, man?"

Canis replied, "Yeah. How the hell did Earth manage to make an armor-piercing bullet that powerful?"

Keith used some of Black Dragon's regenerative capability on Savage Beast the damage gets repaired the moment the regenerative powers flow through Savage Beast's system.

Canis balances his machine again and the two young pilots look at their attacker. Keith can sense a cold and emotionless presence inside the cockpit of that machine and it somehow sent a chill down his spine.

Suddenly the hostile NEXT, Black Star, unleashes an attack of kinetic energy on Black Dragon the sheer pressure of it causes Black Dragon's armor to fracture. To Keith's misfortune it also mysteriously slowed the regenerative ability.

'Oh man, talking about power! That attack could've destroyed my NEXT! What the hell is this thing?' Keith mentally screamed.

To be continued…

A/N: Chapter 13 done. Well, this is it, ladies and gentlemen the final battle. Looks like the Harvesters have built a NEXT with abilities rivaling that of Black Dragon, can Keith and Canis overcome this horrifying new foe?

Read and Review. And Raidentensho, about using the opening song 'run away' from Xamid: the Lost Memory during this climatic battle, well sorry man. I couldn't find it. I apologize if you're upset about it. So I used the forth opening song of Gundam Seed called Realize by Nami Tamaki.

Stick around for chapter 14.

Vader 23A


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Final Battle, Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

Utan fires all of her machine's weapons at the Harvest units in front of her the enemy explodes like a volcano. The orangutan lets out a big sigh.

Rabat looked at the monitor that showed the depleted ammunition and groaned, "Geez, biggest waste of money in the whole universe!"

Gascogne came up on the screen and said, "Looking for some bullets? I'll sell them to you cheap."

The former trader replied, "Come on, you know I need them." Then he gasped as he saw the Big Boy unleash a huge laser barrage that either severely damaged or destroyed allied ships. The attack spooks Utan as she let out a yelp. The Nirvana shakes from the impact.

BC ordered, "Hold her steady! All teams report status to damage control!"

In the helm Bart exclaimed, "You want status? She's not responding at all!"

In the ship's engine room Parfet saw the Pexis engulfed in a red color.

She said, "I don't believe it! The Pexis is frozen up, it won't budge!"

Magno said, "This is not good."

Rabat said through a monitor, "No question about it. Whatever you guys did, you certainly got the folks from Earth pissed off in a big way for them to go this extreme." Super Vandread deactivates the shield it used to protect itself from the attack.

Hibiki growled, "God! They sure have a nasty way of saying hello, don't they?"

Dita asked, "I wonder why the Pexis from Earth is red?"

Pyoro answered, "The Pexis is a being that changes, reflecting the hearts of those who touch it. Red is the color of danger a closed heart that does not accept others."

Meia recited the sentence, "A closed heart that doesn't accept others."

Dita exclaimed, "Why?" Close by, Keith and Canis battle against the large squadron of 70 prototype NEXTs.

These machines were test models and as such they weren't heavily armed and had many weak spots that a NEXT pilot could exploit. The only danger the prototype had was the large, destructive blade it had on its left arm.

The pilots had to time their attacks accordingly because they were surrounded at the moment.

Two prototypes close in from Canis' eleven o'clock high, Savage Beast fires its right back mounted GAN-01-SS chain cannon at them. The armor-piercing rounds tear right through the thin armor plating. The two prototype NEXTs blow up and Canis locks on to more.

Keith just got done avoiding an all range blade attack by 5 prototypes and pulls out the Karasawa Mk 3 laser rifle and opens fire. Before he fired again, the beam weapon changes into the twin barreled plasma rifle that he has when Black Dragon combines with Meia's Dread to form Red Angel. A creepy smile forms on Keith's face as he briefly looked at the gun. A warning alarm snaps the American from his inspection and he spots 20 enemy units closing in on his position, Black Dragon splits the plasma rifle into two separate ones and fires, the black NEXT spins in a full circle destroying the prototype NEXTs as it did. A minute later, Black Dragon stops the spin and puts the two rifles together to form a single one again.

The unknown NEXT, Black Star, watches the battle unfold. With the team work of Keith and Canis, Black Star's escort is gone, leaving only the evil Armored Core.

Black Star draws its beam lance and a red energy blade comes out from both sides of the hilt. Savage Beast pulls out its own beam saber and the three machines collide. Violet, blue and red blades clash as they compete in a test of strength.

Back with Super Vandread, Hibiki felt a presence coming from the planet destroyer.

He said, "You may not accept others but you're going to have to rather you like or not!" Fakedread Dita, Meia and Jura attempt to stop them but only to get cut down by the machine's sword, the planet destroyer fires its beam cannon at Super Vandread, causing it to defuse. The three Dread pilots are thrown back.

Pyoro has his face buried between Jura's breasts.

She demanded, "Get away from me!" Hibiki pushes forward, somehow getting through that strange shield. The Dread pilots follow but get trapped inside the shield.

Barnette told Magno, "That shield can't be broken with just Dreads"

Valore asked, "What should we do?"

Magno stated, "It looks like everything is in the hands of those kids now. Barnette! Valore! You two take command of the Dreads there are still plenty of enemies here to deal with!"

Both pilots responded in unison, "Roger!"

Jura asked, "What is this pressure?"

Meia wondered as well, "Is this another ability of the Pexis?"

Dita cried, "Mr. Alien, are you alright? Mr. Alien!"

Hibiki wakes up to find himself in some sort main room. He looks up to see a boy looking at him with a cold and blank stare.

The Tarak teen asked, "Are you an Earthling?" Then he feels a near bone crushing pressure pressing against him, "You bastard!"

The boy said, "Resistance is futile." Three monitors appear to show the Dread pilots.

Meia asked, "Was that your voice I just heard?"

The boy went on, "The Pexis seems to have developed an interest in you. You have somehow gained powers by synchronizing with it. You are all incomplete."

Hibiki groaned, "Incomplete? I'll tear you apart for treating people like cattle!" The enemy applies more pressure to the young Tarak and he falls down dislocating his left shoulder. Hibiki screams in agony.

The enemy said, "Zen, leader of Tarak and Anri, leader of Mejale. Thanks to your efforts Earth is eternal. Thank you!"

On the Nirvana's bridge Misty demanded with anger, "What's so eternal about this? Tell me!"

The boy explained, "It's because of our existence that you were even born, don't you believe it is only for you to return the favor for our benefit? But you continue to get in our way throughout the universe and at this rate, Earth will crumble. So we chose the best method for mankind's prosperity. We are all children of Earth we can't allow ourselves to perish. You will continue to live on as a part of us!"

Duero agreed, "In a way, he does have a point."

The Harvest leader finished, "In regards of those unfortunate to die, you should be happy that you are able to die! Not everyone has that trait. All of you have that special destiny. Rejoice in your destiny!"

Bart said, "Geez, he's even more of a chatterbox than me! And he's rotten too."

'Having your organs torn from your body is not what I would call a special destiny! Life must go on without you organ-stealing fiends!' Empio thought in outrage.

Ezra mumbled, "To save the Earth?"

Misty cried, "Come on, don't be pessimistic! Come on, you guys!" Realizing that her words weren't getting through the others Misty began to get depressed.

Dita denied, "No! Call it what you want but it's nothing more than straight out genocidal murder!"

The boy offered, "Come now, little one open your heart. This operation has beauty in it! Don't you believe that giving up a human life for another is the most honorable thing for a human being?"

The redhead shook her head, "No you're wrong! I may be a klutz but there is no one who treasures peoples' feelings more than I do! I would gladly give my life to the people I care about but it's my choice and nothing will change it!"

The Harvest leader exclaimed, "What?"

Jura agreed, "Dita that was great. Listen up you runt, no matter how powerful or how important you think you are, you will never have the ability to truly open someone's heart!"

Meia added, "Regardless of what happens, our lives are finite. We all know we'll grow old and then one day our lives will end. That's why we intend on living every day to its fullest. That's why we continue to move onward through trial and error so we leave a sign mark for our descendants to follow. To cowards who hide in the shadows have no idea what the future holds, even if it's just around the corner!"

Rabat laughed out loud, "That was great! These guys are so entertaining! They deserve an Academy Award!"

The Harvest leader sighed, "Believing in the future is one of the rumblings of the weak, now you're beginning to bore me!"

Pyoro informed, "What an annoying little brat!"

Their adversary heard Hibiki laugh, "Damn, I must have sounded really mature when I thought I found proof of my existence but now I understand that what I need to conquer is myself. Keith has taught me that one must face their weaknesses in order to become stronger. The thing that's stopping me is my fear!"

The Harvest leader laughed, "You still have much to learn, little one."

Hibiki managed to get up to a kneeling stance and chuckled, "You think you're winning the game here but that's not true." The enemy puts more pressure on Hibiki but he went on, "You don't want to admit it but you guys are scared too, am I right? There's one big difference between you and me. Do you know what that is? I got myself a bunch of friends that believe in me and people who treat me like family and scold me whenever I do something wrong. You're all alone and do not want listen to your own heart. In comparison to that, taking care of you is a joke!" The Pexis inside the Nirvana returns to its normal shining blue.

Their enemy said to Hibiki, "I truly hate you!" Two crimson blades appear out of nowhere and cut the young Tarak. Hibiki looked at hand blood covered hand before the Harvest leader demanded, "You should go away!" With his incredible power he telekinetically pushes Hibiki back into his Vanguard and threw him and the Dreads out of the shield.

Hibiki saw the beam cannon detach from the ship and asked, "Oh yeah, so you're going to run away like a coward?"

The Harvest leader screamed, "Everyone must die!" Suddenly a powerful miniature wormhole appears. The enemy leader teleports himself into Black Star just as Keith launches a counter strike.

Jura wondered, "What is that?"

Rabat looked at the object and his visible eye went wide in terror, "That doesn't look good at all!"

Parfet observed the Pexis and fear ran down her spine, "Oh that's bad!" She contacted Magno, "Captain, it seems to be reacting the same way when we were thrown into a different sector of the galaxy."

BC replied, "At that time, a wormhole appeared by the Pexis' self-preservation instinct. It's not surprising that it would react like this."

Pyoro came up on the screen and explained, "But this isn't self-preservation! They are using the energy you guys make to create a wormhole to tangle up time and space!"

Misty blinked in confusion, "I don't understand."

Pyoro screamed, "They're trying to destroy everything on this side of the galaxy!" The words sunk in after that.

Bart panicked, "There's nowhere to run!"

Magno growled in fury, "That's just great! They certainly have succeeded in making the Pexis a bloodthirsty monster!" Hibiki attempts to be a hero and close the wormhole by sacrificing himself but Dita wouldn't allow her lover to do such a thing as her Dread combined with Hibiki's Vanguard to form Vandread Dita.

Hibiki whined, "Why did you have to go and do that?"

Dita giggled, "We're far stronger than you can ever hope to be when we are together." She ties her left hand to Hibiki's left hand; this made the Vandread's left hand useful and drives its gauntlet into the barrel.

Dita wanted Hibiki to say her name but Jura interrupted, "Hey guys, it's heartwarming and all right now but can we get down to business?"

Pyoro chimed, "Let's close the gate with one shot from Vandread Pyoro!" Hibiki could only shake his head. The four combine and Super Vandread dissipates the red shield.

Amarone stated, "Super Vandread has entered the area, it's putting up a shield!" Excruciating pain hits Magno's chest again as she tries to inhale fresh oxygen into her lungs.

Belvedere added, "The gate is putting enormous pressure on them!"

BC shouted, "Don't overdo it!"

Hibiki chuckled, "Don't overdo it? That's only for people who don't enough breathing room!"

Keith destroys the twin Gatling guns on Black Star's left arm as his enemy could only gasp in horror as his plan was being foiled.

Keith said, "Planet Earth has been dying even before I was born! I won't let you destroy mankind's golden age because of this damn harvesting operation that you are doing! I will rip you to shreds!" Black Star unleashes another blast of kinetic energy and this one blows off some of Black Dragon's armor, exposing its steel skeleton. The entire left side of the Armored Core's face armor was destroyed and its mechanical face is now exposed, parts of the core armor, leg armor and on the arms are also gone some shrapnel tear through Keith's left sleeve of his g-suit and gave him cuts. He ignores the small inconvenience and continues his fight.

Savage Beast fires its WHEELING-01 multi-chain missile launcher at Black Star, the projectiles hit home as bits of enemy armor fly off. Sensing his inevitable defeat the Harvest leader teleports away, Keith plans to give chase.

He said, "Hey Canis care to join me in this goose-chase?"

Canis nodded, "Sure. Let's go, Keith!" The two activate their respective machine's overed booster and chase Black Star. The chase ends in a nearby asteroid field. The Demons of Hell look left and right to find their target.

Canis taunted, "Where are you, freak you afraid to face us?" Keith senses the enemy's presence and blocked an attack from behind Black Star vanishes into the field again.

Keith ordered, "Stop being a coward and get your ass out here and fight like a warrior! Don't be shy, bitch!" Black Dragon turns around in time to punch Black Star in the gut before firing its OGOTO grenade cannon, sending his foe crashing through an asteroid. The enemy machine slowly gets up and continues to put up resistance. Keith fixes his Armored Core's regeneration ability and the damage done to Black Dragon heals instantly. Black Dragon raised its beam saber and strikes down but is blocked by Black Star's beam lance, the Harvest leader attempts to launch slashing attacks of his own but are thwarted by Black Dragon's 07-Moonlight beam saber. The enemy fires a Kojima missile at the American's machine but Keith activates the AMS to increase his reaction time and Black Dragon kicks the projectile away.

Super Vandread continues to struggle against the wormhole as pieces of its armor break off to show its glowing interior.

Hibiki shouted, "Hold on!"

Meia added, "Just look at our future! We'll fight to defend it!"

Pyoro said to the Pexis, "Friends: things to be cherished. We must protect our friends." The Pexis unleashes a massive laser barrage that cancels out the wormhole and defeats its evil twin. Gascogne smiles at the sight.

Barnette shouted, "We did it! We won, yeah!" The Harvest leader looked at the destroyed wormhole and screamed in rage.

Keith gloated, "Looks like your plan on destroying everything on this side of the galaxy has backfired! What a shame!"

His enemy growled, "Damn you, Demons of Hell! Do you have any idea of what you have just done? You sealed Earth's fate!"

Canis laughed, "What we did was saving life from extinction. You caused so much trouble to thriving planets and took so many innocent lives in this operation of yours. Now will you know why Keith and I are the most feared team against our enemies, you shouldn't have let this self-preservation consume you! The planet Earth now can decay for all I care! Leader of the Harvesters, you and your evil ambition will die here!" Their enemy rips off Black Dragon's WHEELING-01 multi-chain missile launcher before readying its beam lance but Black Dragon catches it and spins them around until the close-range weapon was in Black Dragon's hands only.

Keith told him, "You picked the wrong person to fight!" He drives the beam lance into Black Star's right shoulder then superheats Black Dragon's heat whip, making it glow red-hot before swinging it aggressively across the enemy Armored Core's chest. Electrical arcing can be seen as the pilot coughs up blood.

Savage Beast's pilot said, "Welcome to reality, foolish one."

The Harvest leader cursed, "Screw you, you shitheads!"

Keith replied, "Spare me the trash talk. You are the vilest human being I've ever seen you kill innocent people and don't give a damn about the pain and suffering you put on others! Like they say: desperate times call for desperate actions! Canis go back to the Nirvana and inform the crew that I'll be with them in a bit; I want some personal time alone with the leader of the Harvesters. I am going to introduce our little friend here to his new home." Canis shivered as he thought up what place Keith had in mind.

Canis nodded, "Okay, just don't take too long." When Savage Beast left the area, Keith transported him and the Harvest leader to an extremely hot and fiery place.

Keith said, "Welcome to hell, leader of the Harvesters! This is where your eternal suffering will take place! Before I go I will give you a taste of the punishment you'll be experiencing." They both climb out of their NEXTs and land on a large platform made of solidified igneous rock.

All around them were fountains of lava spewing thousands of feet into the air before falling again, the intense heat was unbearable to a mortal but Keith's g-suit was made of material that could withstand extreme heat and had a powerful cooling system.

The Harvest leader charges at Keith only to receive a vicious boot to the face. Keith picks his opponent up and punches him in the face repeatedly before slamming him into the ground. Here the American can vent all of his rage at his opponent.

The Harvest leader growled, "I won't be defeated by a punk like you!" He unleashes a burst of telekinesis to push Keith back, Keith skids back a few feet before he stopped. Utilizing his unrivaled speed, the American quickly closed in and delivers a roundhouse kick to the side of the enemy's face before picking him by the throat and holding him.

Keith informed his foe with a scary facial expression, "You have to be held accountable for your actions. However, the acts that you committed can't be atoned. You used the souls of many dead NEXT pilots against me. Roy Saaland, Katrina, Vora Nork, the list is endless! Even your own automated ships were just tools for you to use. You are a disgrace to all of mankind!" His enemy runs towards Keith only to be thrown over Keith's back and impacted the ground hard, a lava fountain shot up in response.

Demons gather around to watch the spectacle taking place.

Keith creates a sword out of hellfire and the weapon solidifies into hot metal.

The Harvest leader asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

Keith answered, "I could shove this down your throat."

His opponent gloated, "That sounds like fun then what?"

Keith replied in a sadistic tone "And then I pull real hard and as it comes out your stomach and intestines come out along with it. As you lay there in shock staring at your digestive organs sticking out of your body, you slowly bleed internally and you know there's nothing you can do to save yourself as you drown in your own blood."

The Harvest leader cried, "You're a demon! You are psychotic!"

The U.S. NEXT pilot shook his head, "No. I'm fucking pissed over this war with my home world and I want you to suffer for all the sins you committed." He walks forward and stabs his foe with the hot blade. The Harvest leader screams in pain. He attempts to crawl away.

Keith went on, "Do you understand now? This pain is only a taste compared to what is in store for you here!" He drives his weapon into the victim's calves.

One demon laughed darkly, "Keith's burning his ass! I love it!" Keith looks around him and notices that he has drawn an audience as he briefly noticed that this place was like the fire that raged within his soul during this war.

Another demon demanded, "Let us take over in this torture, boy. You head back to your friends!"

Keith nodded, "Very well, demons. The Harvest leader is all yours, have fun!" The sword in Keith's hand vanishes in thin air and he boards his NEXT. He teleports himself to where Canis and the others are which was right next to the Nirvana.

Keith, Canis and Empio remain quiet as they contemplated over their actions in this conflict with Earth. Did they have any doubts, any deep, personal regrets? Perhaps but none of them said a word. Not in the final battle, not when they first arrived in this timeline and not when they faced their home world. Not a word.

Keith deactivates the Dragon's Rage mode as the armor plating on the mouth, shoulders and the wings on the Armored Core's back return to their normal positions. Black Dragon turned its head to see Super Vandread encased in a protective aqua-green shield. Keith smilesas he discovered that his friends were fine.

Inside the machine, the pilots regain consciousness as they look at the sight in front of them.

Jura asked, "What is this?"

Pyoro replied, "It's the Pexis."

Hibiki said, "You're right."

Meia added, "It truly is one of our friends."

Dita's blue eyes shined with happiness, "Thank you!"

Hibiki sighed in content, "We did it. We protected our future!"

Jura laughed lightly, "What makes you sound so awkward? That isn't like you at all!"

The young Tarak rubbed the back of his head, "I've made enough comments for one day. You won't hear anymore from me." Then he noticed that his hand was still tied to Dita's, "You idiot! Why are we still tied up like this?"

Meia smiled, "Are you guys ready? It's time to go back home." A monitor on the Nirvana's bridge shows the damaged Super Vandread standing triumphantly.

Ezra wiped a few tears away, "Thank goodness everyone's alright."

Misty agreed, "Of course they are! We did it, Q-Chan!"

In the helm Bart said, "Good because my arms are stiff!"

BC chuckled, "Oh, brother!" Though she is relieved that the war is finally over!

Magno lightly pounded her chest, "I can't go down just yet. Not until I find out what the future has in store for those kids and besides they're still too reckless to be left alone."

BC agreed, "You are right." Black Dragon's red-hot black armor gradually cools due to the freezing temperatures of outer space.

The NEXTs, Dreads and Vanguard return to the Nirvana as their allied ships return to their respective planets, feeling that their work here is done.

Keith and the others get out of their machines and land on the hanger floor where the crew waited for them. Meia and Barnette are reunited with their boyfriends while Dita escorts Hibiki to the infirmary to have his injuries treated.

Barnette asked, "What happened to the leader of the Harvesters?"

Canis answered, "He's in hell, buried where he belongs!"

Keith said, "We won, Meia."

Meia nodded, "Yes, we did Keith!" Keith and Canis kiss their respective girlfriends as they hear the crew applauding and even a few whistled at the sight. The four blush from the sight.

That night a massive party is held to celebrate the crew's victory in the war with Earth. Keith had an arm around Meia's waist as they stood up to let the delicious food that Dita and Barnette made settle in their stomachs.

Meia looked at Keith's smiling face. 'Will Keith return to his own time period? I hope he doesn't because he's too precious to me!' Meia thought over Keith leaving her.

Keith and Canis get soaked with water as they laughed as they knew that this was part of the celebration.

Later that night, the whole crew sleeps soundly. Tomorrow will be an extraordinary event in the annals of human history in over 100 years: the reunification of the two genders!

As Keith slept, he decides to talk to Anri, the leader of Mejale to reveal his face to that planet and to Tarak as well.

A/N: That's chapter 14 done. Well, the war's over. Earth's harvesting operations has been thwarted and life continues to exist.

Oh yeah, I'm planning on writing a Rosario+Vampire crossover story but I don't know which other story I will use in it.

Here are my top two: Soul Calibur and Legacy of Kain. I don't know which one I should use because both are great game series. I'll let you readers decide.

PM me of which one I should use and I'll see what I can do.

Read and review.

Stick around for the epilogue.

Vader 23A


	15. Epilogue lemon

Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread or the Armored Core games, Just my OC and his NEXT.

Vandread Raven: The Second Stage

The next day the Nirvana docks with an asteroid that had a hanger built into it. Magno and BC exit the shuttle they used after returning from a meeting with Grand Ma and Grand Pa.

Rebecca asked, "Well captain, how did it go?"

Magno cleared her throat, "The two planets have decided to open communications with one another." The others cheer after hearing that news.

BC explained, "That means this place and the Nirvana will be of great importance. This place will be an experimental area for men and women together."

Paiway tilted her head, "Experiment of men and women living together?"

Misty shook her head with crossed arms, "You know you're just looking for trouble. You can't force things on people."

The sub-captain added, "Duero, Bart and Hibiki will be responsible of finding suitable men for the experiment of living with women."

Bart told her, "You can count me in!" Keith and Canis could only smile from Bart's confidence. He went from being a big cry baby to a proud man over the course of this journey.

Duero wondered, "So when do we go?"

BC answered, "Right now if possible." Everyone is surprised that declaration. Dita is hit the hardest.

Gascogne assured her, "Hey, it's not like you're never going to see him again!"

Dita whined, "But Mr. Alien hasn't kept his promise!" She looks at the bandaged Hibiki who gains a panicked look on his face.

Misty asked, "What promise did he make?"

Parfet answered, "He promised to visit Dita's room one more time."

Misty blushed at that and turned her head to hide the blush, "I have strange thoughts in my head right now!"

Pyoro inched closer, "What do you mean by such ideas?"

Magno whined, "Sheesh, when did a pirate ship end up becoming a government sanctioned day care center?" BC giggled at the old woman's words.

The three men of Tarak take one last last look at the Mejalian space pirates before they start their mission.

Gascogne told them, "Don't overexert yourself, okay?"

Pyoro waved, "Try not to miss up this time!" Hibiki had other plans for the white robot.

He grabbed Pyoro and growled, "What do you think you're doing? You're coming with us! So quit whining and get onboard!" He throws Pyoro into the ship's interior and unintentionally hits Bart.

Parfet called out, "Doctor! Be back soon, you know how jealous your patients are when you're not around."

Duero nodded, "Yes, I'll do that." Suddenly Paiway appeared in between the two.

The engineer cried, "Pai, what are you doing?"

Paiway said, "Oh, I've been curious this whole time!" She flicked Duero's hair that covered his right eye and both girls look at his now fully exposed face, judging by the facial expression, his face was handsome.

Duero smirked, "Feel better now?" Hibiki wondered what they are doing.

Jura appeared in front of them.

She explained, "These men you will be picking, I will interview each and every one of them before making a decision. Ugly guys are totally out of the question and make sure to call in every morning and evening, okay?" She starts tearing up, "Because if you forget even once..." She runs toward the guys and embraced them in a good-bye hug but Hibiki escaped in time.

Barnette explained, "Don't be fooled. She just wants to find a guy to have a baby with."

Hibiki rolled his eyes, "Not surprised."

Meia approached him, "Hibiki." She held out her hand with a smile and Hibiki shook it. She said, "I'm glad I was managed to meet you, thanks a lot!"

Hibiki nodded, "Same here!" Keith thanked Hibiki as well and the young Tarak told Keith that he looks up to him as a big brother. The American gladly accepts the compliment.

Suddenly, they hear struggling then see Misty pulling Dita towards them.

Misty said, "Hibiki, she has a favor to ask you."

Hibiki tilted his head, "A favor?"

Misty elbowed the redhead, "Come on! Stop being shy, Dita!"

Dita cried nervously, "I wanted to hear you say my name one more time."

Hibiki blushed, "Your name?" Meia, Barnette and Paiway wait for the response and they got one but not the one they were expected. Hibiki said it was a stupid idea and Dita felt her feelings being crushed, breaking into tears.

'That was cold, man.' Canis thought.

BC told him, "Hibiki, come on we have to go!" She keeps Pyoro away from Serena.

Hibiki said in regret, "Well, bye." After he boards the shuttle, the ramp retracts and as Dita was about to leave she suddenly heard Hibiki call out, "Dita! Let's go!" He extends his right hand, shocking Mist and Jura. Hibiki smiled.

Dita replied in pure joy, "Sure!" The others watch as she ran up the loading ramp and jumped into his hand as he pulls her onboard. The shuttle leaves its hanger and heads for Tarak.

Keith and Canis look over their shoulders to see Empio prepping Transcend for the return trip to their own time period. Keith and Canis ride the lifting wire up to the cockpit where they see their friend powering up the systems. Empio looks at them.

He said, "So you guys aren't coming back?"

Keith nodded, "Sorry, man. If we head back with you, we would immediately be hunted down like rats by the League because we ruined their rule over that Earth and mankind will prepare to colonize other worlds. So we'll remain here where it is safe. Here, give these discs to Serene Haze and the NEXT pilots who idolize me. The discs will inform them of my decision."

Empio replied, "I understand. It couldn't have been an easy choice to make but I understand. You have people here you care about. Well, stay safe and I wish you two a happy life! We will meet again someday."

Canis smiled, "You know it! Who knows when the Harvesters will decide to rear their ugly heads and attack us again if that happens I'm sure the Pexis will bring you here. Take care, my friend."

Keith and Canis get down from Transcend as the cockpit closes and NEXT takes off and entered the wormhole that leads back to their own time period. They return to where the others are.

Magno asked, "I take it you guys are not going back?"

Keith shook his head, "No. We have decided that we are staying right here, Magno. You know there are those who may not like this idea of the two genders co-existing again." Magno had to agree with them there.

Tears well up in Meia and Barnette's eyes as they enveloped their lovers in a hug their fears of abandonment quelled.

Canis asked, "So, Magno have you received anything else from Grand Ma?"

The pirate leader informed, "Yes. She has said that we have been reinstated as citizens of Mejale that mean we can go home. What about you two? Where will you be staying?"

Keith explained, "I did some searching earlier this morning for any nearby planets and I found one. It's called Jovian it is a neighboring planet of Mejale and is populated by men and women. I even discovered that it has cities and stuff that the old Earth had before Armored Core technology was developed. The leader of that world has told me that we are welcome to stay there if we like. So what do you say Meia and Barnette? Would you like to stay with me and Canis?"

The two Dread pilots tightened the hug.

Meia said, "Of course we will, if that is okay with you, captain."

Magno smiled, "Go ahead, I won't stop you."

Keith thanked her, "I appreciate your answer, Ms. Magno. I will take care of Meia. I promise. First let's head to Mejale because I want to give my parents a proper funeral there and also talk to Grand Ma. They need to know about our presence!" Magno nodded in agreement.

The Mejalian space pirates board another shuttle while Keith, Canis, Meia and Barnette board their own craft. Black Dragon and Savage Beast take off first. They lead the way, in a few minutes they reach Mejale and proceed to land. Keith and Canis shut down their machines' Primal Armor to prevent environmental contamination. The NEXT pilots gain a surprise welcome when armed guards aim their laser rifles at them. Black Dragon and Savage Beast point their own weapons at the guards.

Canis said, "What is the meaning of this? You dare point a gun at us? You want a piece of us? Keith and I can tear you apart easily!"

The commander approaches and demanded, "Lower your weapons! Lower your weapons! They are welcomed here!" The guards follow the commander's orders and lower their laser rifles.

Their superior contacted Canis, "Sorry about that, Canis."

The Lynx smiled, "It's okay though next time they could ask for our purpose of being here." They are led to a hanger where they disembark from their NEXTs and the Mejalian space pirates depart from their shuttle. The majority of the crew head back to their homes where they are reunited with their parents.

Keith, Meia, Canis and Barnette go to a flower store and purchase some flowers. Keith wonders why Meia would want to buy flowers as well but then he realizes why. They next head toward the cemetery where Meia's parents' tombstones were. She places the flowers between their tombstones and lowered her head to mourn.

She said, "Hi, mother. It's been a long time since I last stepped foot on this land. I have decided to pay you and my Ohma a visit, I have found someone I truly cherish but it's not another woman. Yes, I have fallen in love with a man, a NEXT pilot believe it or not. His name is Keith Oswell, he is a great person! He's strong, kind and extremely loyal to those he cares about including me. At first I refused to get attached to anyone because I believed it would make me weak but Keith has shown me respect and affection. Yes, I even made love to him, a male. A historical event in Mejalian history! He's still a teenager and soon to be 17 years old. I wish you were here right now so you could meet him. I hope you two can continue to watch over me from the heavens, I know one day I'll see you again." She then cried and Keith hugged her, gently rubbing her back as she lets her sorrow out.

Canis and Barnette look on and feel sorry for Meia having to lose her parents at such a young age is extremely heart breaking.

A few minutes later, the Dread leader stops sobbing and kissed Keith. Now it was the American's turn to make peace with his past.

He uses his amazing powers to make her parents' and Katrina's well preserved bodies out of thin air and encase them in a protective crystal coffin next he creates a burial ground for them and placed the coffins in the ground before covering them with dirt. A tombstone appears behind their separate graves and Keith places his flowers down between them. He went down to his knees and concentrated. He enters the spectral realm where souls of the dead linger. The souls of Ryan and Serena Oswell materialize and they gaze at their son with heartwarming smiles.

Ryan said, "It's good to see you again, son."

Keith replied, "Hello Mom and Dad. It's been 10 years since I last saw you! So much has changed in your absence."

Serena nodded, "I can tell. You have grown, Keith. I take it that Earth has been defeated?"

Their only son smiled sadly, "Yes but at a heavy price. Billions of innocent lives were taken by the Harvesters during this war. Planet Earth has never been the same since the Colonization Era took place over 100 years ago. It has transformed from a beautiful blue planet to a nasty green, acidic hunt of rock! The inhabitants have become sick, twisted versions of their former selves, it hurt facing our home world I mean this is the planet we all grew up on for God's sake!"

His father asked, "What about Katrina? Do you miss her?"

Keith nodded, "Of course I miss her! She taught me how to pilot an Armored Core and live! I am grateful for that." Katrina appeared and gave her former student/lover a hug. The two pilots look at each other.

Katrina greeted, "Hi, Keith."

Keith replied, "Hello, Katrina. It's been hard to live on without you there at my side. You were the whole world to me! But now I found someone who I love. Her name is Meia Gisborn, she's the leader of a group of highly advanced fighter aircraft called Dreads she also flies one as well. She's like your reincarnation, Katrina! I wish you could meet her but I know one day you will when our time comes. Until then I will continue to live on!" They all share a group hug as Keith sobbed for a bit. A minute later he stops and sniffs.

Ryan said, "Go, son. Go back to Meia and the others. Remember we will always love you no matter how hard the situation will get." Keith nodded with a warm smile before returning to the realm of the living. He rises to his feet and felt that a massive burden has been lifted from his shoulders and soon Canis pays his own tribute to Ryan and Serena Oswell. The group departs from the cemetery and head toward the council chambers where Grand Ma waited.

Keith and Canis change clothes. Keith wore a dark blue T-shirt that stopped above his elbows, a zip-up hoodie that he leaves unzipped, navy blue pants, comfortable socks and his shoes.

Canis donned a black T-shirt with the American flag logo on the back of it, dark gray pants with a belt securing them, socks and blue striped shoes. Their girlfriends wore the same outfits.

They all take a deep breath before entering the chambers. They approach Grand Ma and kneel to show respect to the leader of Mejale as well as the projection of Lord Grand Pa. Gasps and whispers can be heard as other council members looked at them.

Keith and his three companions stand up.

Keith said, "Greetings, Lord Grand Ma and Grand Pa. I am Keith Oswell and this is my friend Canis. We are from planet Earth from a different timeline. This is the first time we are able to see you in person."

Grand Ma replied, "So you are the NEXT pilots that helped Magno and her crew in stopping the organ harvesting?"

Canis nodded, "That is correct ma'am."

Grand Pa observed their appearance, "You are so young to be Armored Core pilots!"

Keith explained, "The organization we used to work for, Collared, was in demand for recruits. So they began to search for candidates that were 6 years old so they could have more time to train us and by the time we were in our teens, we'd be veteran Lynx."

Suddenly they heard the Tarak Prime Minister saying, "I can't believe an asshole like you Keith could take down Tarak's newest weapon, the Vanguard. Plus you took out two ships that were escorting the Ikazuchi when those women attacked!" He thought the American couldn't back up his words but he was in for a big surprise. There's nothing that Keith hates more than being insulted.

Keith gave the Minister a death glare, "Asshole? Is that what you called me? You better watch your tongue mister unless you want it ripped out of your mouth!" He gives the bald headed man a telekinetic punch that knocks him out of his seat.

Canis took over, "Anyways, it is true that we helped Magno and her crew defeat Earth and save your two precious planets. We have decided to remain in this timeline so we can be of use. We'll thwart any uprisings, assassination attempts or any kind of trouble that would disrupt this re-established gender co-existence."

Keith warned, "It is said that history is written by the victors but not in my book. Lord Grand Pa, your planet's military better not even attempt to attack us because we will come after them. In other words once you become our enemy there's no escape! Zen if that Prime Minister of yours tries to launch a surprise attack on us or Mejale, the Demons of Hell will take his soul and cripple your military so heed my warning because I won't say it again!"

The Tarak leader nodded, "I see. Very well, I'll make a vow that no one will cross the line because if they do I will strip them of their rank and punish them." Keith accepts his vow and knew that Zen meant every word of it.

Grand Ma said, "You certainly respect life. I hear that you four are planning on living on that neighboring planet Jovian that is one of the best planets to live on. You are free to return here anytime you wish. You are heroes here, Demons of Hell."

Canis bowed, "Thank you, your Majesty. We will take our leave now."

The four exited the council chamber and choose to stay on Mejale for a few weeks to meet the people even though it was a female planet only. The locals were pretty friendly to the NEXT pilots and even a few congratulated them on having Meia and Barnette as their lovers.

That night the crew went to a neat restaurant they each ordered what they wanted and wait for their orders to arrive.

Jura broke the silence, "Life is hard."

Barnette closed her eyes for a second, "Sure."

Canis said, "I never set an example. One time doctors at Collared had me doing therapy bullshit discussing your childhood and other past events."

Keith chuckled, "That sounds boring."

Canis went on, "In my childhood I saw my brother try to hurt my mom! I remember one time she bought him a neat baseball bat for his birthday because his friend had one. Thought he would be happy but my brother was a guy who could hardly read at all. You know what he did? He tried to kill my mother with it though father was there to stop him in time. Damn animal! I was glad that he was sentenced to life in prison! It served him right!"

Meia stated, "Life is tough."

Canis agreed, "Damn straight!" Their meals arrive and they eat their fill. The meals were free of charge so the gang didn't have to pay a bill.

Magno leads Keith and his friend on a tour of the city and the NEXT pilots had to admit that the metropolis was highly advanced though the energy consumption problem will have to be dealt with as soon as possible.

In Keith's timeline, Empio just arrived at a secret base that Serene Haze and the other pilots are using to remain low from the League's eyes.

Serene asked, "Where's Keith and Canis?"

Empio answered, "They had a suspicion that our friend the League would be gunning for their blood since the League's rule was broken and ORCA's closed plan is entering phase 2. Keith told me to give you these so he could tell you of his decision." He gives her the discs and she pops one of them into a VHS/DVD player. The recording starts by showing Keith in the Nirvana's infirmary.

He waved with a smile, "Hi, Serene! This is your pal, Keith Oswell! I am sending you this video to show that I'm still alive. After capturing Arteria Cranium a wormhole appeared out of nowhere and transported me to a different universe where men and women live on two separate planets and were at war with each other. A gender war, can you imagine that? Fortunately I was able to make new friends on a neat ship called the Nirvana where the crew is comprised of super hot girls with three guys as prisoners, excluding myself. I was even able to fall in love with the leader of the Dread squadron. That girl's name is Meia Gisborn. She's an incredible person! She's strong, courageous and beautiful! She is like a clone of Katrina, ironic don't you think?"

Serene mumbled, "Keith."

The American's face gained a sad look, "Regardless of what the League says about me and Katrina, I strongly believe that what we did was for the best of humanity. If things were to continue like they did, life would ultimately disappear from the face of Earth because of pollution. So that's why Katrina and I joined Thermidor and his ORCA brigade to free humanity from this imprisonment. Future generations will have different opinions about us. To supporters of the League as disgraceful NEXT pilots with no sense of honor or sympathy towards their cause and to new generations of Lynx as saviors of humanity and trampled the power hungry corporations. I believe Katrina wanted to live on in our memories not as a soldier but as a woman. However, she never had the time to tell us."

'I know. I have respect towards Katrina.' Empio thought.

Tears form in Keith's eyes as he continued, "Serene, these vile corporations will never know what we did. Katrina's story, her briefing will endure only in our hearts. Everything she did, she did it for her country. She sacrificed her life and her honor in the line of duty! She was a real hero. She was a true patriot! Canis and I have no regrets over our choice of staying in this alternate universe. Believe me, it was a tough decision to make. We will be safe from the League here but I will miss you, Serene. You are a good friend and I will miss you. Good-bye." He couldn't hold the tears back anymore as they fall from his eyes and stops the recording. Serene cried after watching that video but in her heart she knew that this was a wise choice by Keith.

She smiled, "I'll miss you as well, Keith. You were a great person to talk to when not on a mission." She plays the second recording and this one was aimed for the idolizers of Keith.

A few weeks later Keith, Canis, Meia and Barnette settle on Jovian. It was a breathtaking scene.

The sky was blue it had oceans, green forests with various forms of life. The power plants on this world were clean and efficient. They were solar power, hydroelectric, cold nuclear fusion, and other environment friendly energy generating plants.

That night, a festival takes place to mark the 20th anniversary of Jovian's fight for independence that occurred 20 years ago when they separated from a tyrannical empire that controlled this planetary system. And to the group's surprise today is also Keith's birthday. What better way to celebrate than by attending the festival? They walk around having a good time. They played a few games and won some prizes.

Keith discoversa tattoo parlor stand and he decided to get one. The guy in charge sees Keith and immediately becomes ecstatic.

He said, "Oh, Keith! Welcome! What can I do for you?"

Keith looks over the available list of tattoos until one design caught his eye, "I'll have the one that has Katrina's NEXT Red Angel."

The man said, "Hm, as a reminder of your mentor?" Keith nods and said he wants the tattoo on his right shoulder. He wasn't into body art but Keith wanted this as a way to remember Katrina. He hissed in pain as the tattoo was applied, it felt like someone was running a hot needle across his skin. Soon the tattoo is done being applied to Keith's right arm and the ink dries instantly Keith also knew that this tattoo is permanent. The artist offered this tattoo free of charge and the group thanked him.

They continue to enjoy themselves until the time came for fireworks to start. The four watch them from a hill.

Meia said, "Happy birthday, Keith." Keith's response to it was a kiss on her lips. This is one thing that Meia loved about him, he was a passionate lover. Deciding that they've had enough they return to the hotel that had a nice view of the ocean, they enter their rooms and locked the doors.

Tonight was a cloudless night with the planet's moon shining through the open curtains Keith and Meia gaze at one another as they felt lust rising to the surface!

She smiled, "Time for your birthday present, my love!" Keith smirked.

(Okay, everyone I took it upon myself to do a lemon to wrap this story up. This will involve two pairings. Enjoy.)

The two kiss and gently caress one another moaning as they did so. Meia discarded the chest/shoulder padding of her flight suit and tossed it somewhere on the floor, her boots followed as well. She removed Keith's hoodie and shirt, tossing them to join her chest/shoulder padding. She rubbed her hands over his bare, well-toned chest before touching his face. Keith smiled as he allowed her to caress his face. Seeing her lover give such a smile warmed Meia's heart to no end, she is brought back to reality when she hears her flight suit zipper being undone. She helps him remove it from her upper body by pulling her slender arms out of the sleeves, the upper half of the suit pools around her abdomen.

Keith said, "You are so beautiful, Meia." She blushed from that statement but she felt proud of herself and rubbed his cheek while saying thank you to him. Keith licked and sucked Meia's right breast while gently rubbing the other. Meia ran her hands through Keith's black hair as her body is wrecked with pleasure.

'It feels so good! Don't stop, Keith!' Meia thought in bliss.

Keith pulls the suit all the way down leaving the blue-haired beauty only in lace blue panties. His hand snaked its way into them and strokes her womanhood Meia inhaled sharply from the sudden increase of pleasure. Her cheeks are stained with a shade of pink. Keith gently lays Meia onto their bed as he continued to message her body. When the Dread leader opened her blue eyes she is met with a devious smile from Keith as he removed her under garment so she lay there fully nude. The moonlight shining through the bedroom window reflected off of Meia's body making her look like a goddess. He removed his hand from Meia's vagina and rubbed her inner thigh. She switched places with him so he lay on the bottom and her on top, straddling him.

She wagged her index finger, "You're still half naked and I'm fully. Keith you are a naughty boy. You need to be punished." The American Lynx loved this playful side of his lover.

Keith said playfully, "Oh, really? What kind of punishment did you have in mind, Meia?" She rubbed his cheeks before playfully whacked his forehead. She stripped him of his pants, underwear, socks and shoes. His skin was lightly tanned but in her eyes it made him more attractive. She placed his cock in between her breasts and then started messaging it. Meia loved teasing Keith this way.

Meia stated, "How about this? You enjoy this." Keith moaned as the soft orbs of flesh rubbed his manhood. A minute later he came over her lovely assists and face. Meia cleans her face of his seed then hovered above his member. She slowly lowered herself moaning as she did so Meia lost her maidenhead the first time they did it so she didn't have to worry about any pain being involved. She started moving up and down as her hips took on a life of their own. Meia moaned as she kissed Keith. Keith messaged her butt as Meia continued to grind against him, she broke the kiss and she began to thrust faster, driving him deeper into her. Finally they came in unison. Meia felt Keith release his seed into her vagina and it coated her inner walls. Her womanhood returned the favor by milking his member. Keith didn't lose his hardness and they head for round 2.

This time Keith sat up and held Meia in his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck. The NEXT pilot starts thrusting once more.

He said, "Meia, you're so tight!" He hits Meia's g-spot repeatedly.

Meia cried out in ecstasy, "Oh, yeah! Right there! Faster!" He obeyed and sped up, their lips meet again and their tongues groped and played. Their lips then separate as they gaze into each other's eyes.

Keith groaned, "Meia, I'm going to cum." They cry out in pleasure as their second orgasm hit hard. Keith and Meia collapsed onto the bed as they covered themselves with the bed sheets. They kiss one more time before falling asleep.

In the room next to them, Canis and Barnette just finished removing one another's clothes and doing the 69 position. Barnette lies on her back as Canis placed her legs on his shoulders before he inserted his cock into her pussy. The deep penetration was an added bonus. Barnette holds on for dear life as she is drowned in ecstasy, a smile forms on her face as she moaned. Canis played with her large breasts adding more pleasure to course through their nerves.

Barnette said, "Oh, Canis! This is wonderful! Give me more!" Their sweat covered bodies made it easy for them to rub against each other. Soon they reached their climax. Barnette screamed in pleasure as she felt Canis shoot a stream of his seed into her and her inner walls caress his penis milking him of any remains of his seed. They panted as they came down from their heavenly experience. Barnette gets up on her hands and knees then Canis inserted his still rock hard cock into her and held onto her hips. He thrusts into her slowly and Barnette screamed in utter desire. She turned to look at him with her violet eyes filled with passion and lust and she saw the same thing in his. Canis leaned forward and kissed Barnette which she returned with equal emotion. Canis seemed to be a pro in locating key points of pleasure on the brunette's body. They climax again before they fell onto the bed. Barnette felt Canis' manhood exit her vagina with a soft pop. He pulled the covers over to keep them warm and they smiled at each other while Canis messaged Barnette's sides before the two dove off into slumber.

Like they promised Anri they thwarted a few uprisings and assassination attempts on her life. That damn Tarak Prime Minister despised the idea of his planet co-existing with women and launched a stealthy surprise attack on the Mejale Border Guard fleet but the Demons of Hell and their lovers fought alongside the fleet to repel the attack. After suffering casualties the attacking Tarak fleet retreat admitting defeat.

Lord Grand Pa was not happy with his Minister's action and as punishment he stripped the foolish man of his rank and ordered him to receive 100 lashes for his crime.

Keith, Canis, Barnette and Meia wait for Earth to rear its ugly head once more because they know the Harvesters will take their vengeance. However, they would suffer the same humiliating defeat again and again.

A/N: Epilogue done. Well, my friends that concludes Vandread Raven: The Second Stage! I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for your support as I wrote this story and Vandread Raven it means a lot to me.

Read and review.

Stay tuned for more stories from me. Oh yeah, be sure to PM me about which game franchise I should use in my Rosario+Vampire crossover story.

Remember they are Soul Calibur or Legacy of Kain.

Vader 23A


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